Living in Fear: how a 12-year-old boy became a drug dealer in a famous Irish gang

Slipping a bag of heroin into the hundredth mailbox of the day, 12-year-old Joey O'Callaghan caught the eye of a little girl who was watching TV at home. She sat between the unsuspecting parents, and then slipped to the exit and grabbed a package of brown pebbles. Then the baby roused the deranged, sprawled mother and gave her the drugs.

Joey, a young drug dealer, saw such heartbreaking scenes every day after he fell into the trap of a famous Irish mobster. He was dragged into the criminal world almost immediately after elementary school, and then for years he was forced to deliver drugs, pumped up with cocaine, beaten and shot at. Read the story of the boy who helped bring the mafia to clean water, being under his command for several years.Joey O'Callaghan became the youngest participant in the Witness Protection Program at the age of 19. He worked for the famous Irish gangster Brian Kenny, performing the duties of a drug dealer. The guy said that he lived in constant fear, hiding in the lair of the mafia, located in the rural hinterland. Once the leader of a criminal gang raped him.

Joey says he was afraid to run away, but when Kenny killed a man in cold blood, the guy decided not to be silent and turned to the police. 20 years have passed since then, and now the former drug dealer is preparing for the release of his new book called "The Witness" (The Witness), co-authored with journalist Nicola Tallant. In it, a man tells about the horror that he had to go through in the hands of a criminal authority.

Joey met Kenny in Blanchardstown, on the west side of Dublin. The boy lived with his parents near the infamous heroin gang The Westies. Brian Kenny was working as a milkman at that time and went from house to house looking for new customers. When Joey was home alone, a drug dealer offered to deliver milk to him. The boy was delighted: he got his first job in his life. He didn't even know what he was getting into.

At first, the student thought that he was earning pocket money by delivering bottles of milk, as other boys did. His mother constantly asked him to stay away from the criminal area. Joey guessed that something terrible was happening when Kenny beat another teenager with a hammer in front of his eyes, breaking his bones for allegedly stealing money. Then the gangster washed the blood off his hands with milk. The bandit threatened Joey that the same thing would happen to him if he wanted to cheat him.

A few days after the incident, the mafia gave the boy a bag of heroin so that he threw it into the mailbox during the milk distribution. Although Joey didn't know exactly what was inside, he guessed it was drugs. The boy was afraid, but he could no longer get out of the criminal scheme. He delivered 300 bags of drugs per evening and collected money along with the payment for milk. Kenny warned the teenager that if he told anyone about their criminal activities, they would plant heroin in his mother's car.

After the holidays, school started, but Kenny wouldn't let Joey go. He started giving the boy cocaine to "charge" the boy before delivering drugs, and valium to relieve stress. He once raped a teenager. The mood of the mafia changed instantly: he could hug Joey and call him his son, and a minute later — beat and insult him. Soon Kenny took the teenager to a mansion in the rural hinterland, fenced with a fence under tension. It was almost impossible to escape from there.

Everything changed in 2004, when Kenny and his accomplice Thomas Hinchon killed 25-year-old Jonathan O'Reilly. He was in his own car near the Dublin prison.

The criminals shot the man and returned to the mansion, washed themselves with gasoline and ordered Joey to destroy their clothes. Then they went to the field to bury drugs, money and weapons there. The killers were afraid that O'Reilly had not died, but when they received confirmation of his death, they rejoiced and celebrated it as a holiday.

Joey realized that his days were numbered, too. At any moment, the guy could also be killed and buried in a field. Kenny almost killed him once by shooting over his head to intimidate him. The bullying of the young drug dealer became more and more cruel. One day the guy decided to escape from the den of criminals and contact the police. He wanted justice to prevail and the bandits to be punished for Jonathan's murder.

Joey's testimony became decisive, and Kenny, along with his accomplice Hinchon, was sentenced to life imprisonment. The former drug dealer became a participant in the Witness Protection Program and spoke in detail about the nightmare that had been happening to him all these years. Because of the lack of support, he felt lonely, destitute and was on the verge of suicide. Only his mother's love helped him get out of this hell. The woman was repeatedly threatened and almost burned her car because of her son's criminal connections, but she did not abandon him and constantly supported him.

Joey says his life is better now than ever. He has a job, the right to medical care. However, he still rarely sees his family. A man tries to live every day as the last. He does not set long—term goals for himself - only those that he will be able to achieve in the near future. The Briton has to change the route he goes to work every time and put on a bulletproof vest. Joey realizes that he is now under the gun of the bandits. They are ready to pay a round sum for his head.

Another young British woman, Nequela Whittaker, became a drug dealer at the age of 13. At home, she was quiet and modest, played the violin, told everyone how she dreamed of becoming an athlete. And in the world of crime, she was known as a harsh drug dealer and the leader of a criminal gang.