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full screen Niklas and his mother visiting a restaurant. Photo: Private
Louisa’s son Niklas said the family didn’t need to worry, he had found a way to settle the debt to the gang.
A few days later, Louisa received a call – Niklas was in custody on suspicion of a serious crime.
– In a way I understand him, it was the only way out he saw, she says.
“Wish you come home soon and until then we will “talk” like this. Love you star stop!”
The year 2023 has just become 2024 and Louisa sends a letter to her teenage son, whom we can call Niklas, inside the institution where he is sitting.
The letter is signed by her and Niklas’ little brother.
“Hugs from billions”.
Louisa is not the only mother who is currently communicating with a child who is behind bars. The last year’s wave of violence has generated overcrowded jails and prisons, and many of those in there are still only teenagers.
“Knew where the children went to school”
Louisa wants to be clear.
She does not think that what the son has done and is now sentenced for is acceptable.
But she can understand how her 19-year-old son was prepared to do anything to escape the threats the criminal gang made against him and his family.
– The criminal network knew where we lived, they knew where we worked and where the children went to school. They made that clear to my son. He was convinced that we would be hurt or killed if he didn’t do as they said, says Louisa.
Louisa wants to nuance the image of what a gang criminal is. Many of those in prison have committed terrible acts, but she believes that far from all committed the crimes voluntarily.
– It is so easy to demonize all these people, but I think many of them have seen no other way out to protect their families. They are young and terrified.
Suddenly the gang heard
Louisa describes her son’s upbringing as normal. Pictures of him show a smiling little guy in a suit, they show a teenager growing up, hugging his little brother and his mother.
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full screen Niklas as a child. Photo: Private
But in his early teens, Niklas becomes unruly. He starts hanging out with older people in his hometown in central Sweden and is sentenced as a 15-year-old for a minor drug offence.
Documents in the district court show how Louisa and Niklas’s father tries to get his son to be more disciplined, to stop smoking cannabis and to go to school more.
– He has always been very smart and kind with stable home conditions. But he ended up kind of crooked and now in retrospect I can wish that we had received an alarm from the school earlier about his absence, and faster help with his marijuana abuse. It is clear that the school needs more resources, says Louisa.
When Niklas turns 17, however, life begins to take a new turn according to the mother. He meets a girl he loves and takes his studies more seriously. He plans to start working and to move away from home together with what he described as “the love of his life”.
– He left that slightly petty criminal life he had lived. It looked so bright. But then, this summer, some of the older criminals he previously had contact with speak up again.
“Ended up in a catch 22”
According to Louisa, they want their son to do “one last job”. Niklas says no, he doesn’t want to fall back again. Then he learns that he will be fined several hundred thousand kroner for refusing.
– Niklas told us what happened. He said those who demanded the money had a large capital of violence. We thought for a while about sending him abroad, but where? We called the police but they said they needed the names of those who threatened and Niklas never dared to reveal that, so it was not possible to get help, says Louisa.
Louisa ended up paying as much of the amount she could muster to the gang. It wasn’t all, but she thought that at least it was something, that maybe they would settle for that.
And it was quiet, for a few weeks. Then the gang returned, demanding that the rest of the money be paid.
– We said we don’t have that money. I called the police again but they said Niklas had to give something in return if they were to protect him and us, and again Niklas didn’t dare. So we ended up in a kind of catch 22.
Lost weight from stress
Louisa describes how she and the family were terrified during this period. When would the gang strike? How far were they prepared to go?
Louisa knows that Niklas saw their fear, and that he probably felt guilty about it. She herself says that her son recently lost ten kilos, he couldn’t sleep, his nerves were on the outside of his skin.
Then one day he says they don’t have to worry anymore. He has solved it, either he or the family will be hurt.
– We understood that he was going to do something, but we didn’t know what, says Louisa.
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full screenLouisa’s letter to Niklas. Photo: Private
In order to maintain the anonymity of the family, no details are told in this article about the crime that Niklas, now 19 years old, has been convicted of, other than that it was a planned serious crime that failed. Niklas is serving a multi-year prison sentence for it.
Louisa has not yet been able to meet her son, but they exchange letters with each other.
“Sometimes life doesn’t turn out the way you planned, usually it does, but it can still be good,” writes Louisa in her letter to her son.
– It is horrible and surreal that he is now in prison and to see him labeled a gang. In the judgment it never appeared that Niklas was under threat, they never even questioned me and he himself has not mentioned it. So he comes across as yet another person who voluntarily runs the gangs’ errands, says Louisa.
To be the devil’s advocate, could it be that you are naive and don’t want to see the truth about your son?
– I actually don’t think so. Niklas has always been very honest with us, he has told us about what happened, both the good and the bad. And I really think he did this because it was the only way out he saw, says Louisa.
“Kills you or continues”
After a mother we called Amanda told in an article in Aftonbladet about how her young son is being blackmailed by a criminal network, many people in a similar situation contacted Aftonbladet.
Even the police and social services have confirmed that this type of extortion is increasing; if you say no to the gang, you can be forced to pay a fine. Those who cannot pay can instead be forced to commit crimes for the gang.
The police’s advice is to always report, otherwise the risk is high that the criminal gang will never let you go.
– I completely agree with the police that you should never start paying – either they kill you or they just keep going. However, you have to be prepared to uproot your roots and move with your whole family, and it is not an easy choice. Now we never had time to make that choice, Niklas solved it in his own way.
Louisa believes that the son will cope with the prison stay, and that he can get out and live the life he wanted, with a girlfriend and a regular job.
– Unfortunately, he has done what they demanded, he committed the crime and he didn’t “goal”. So I have to believe that they will now let him be.
Footnote: Louisa and Niklas are actually called something else.
FACT Signs that your child may be affected:
square1 Many children and young people who are blackmailed or threatened by criminals try to hide what is going on to protect their family. But there are warning signs to watch out for.
square1 Appears stressed and expresses worry and anxiety.
square1 Starts truancy or avoids going to school.
square1 Feeling sick or in physical pain.
square1 Lying or appearing to hide things.
square1 “Losing” his branded clothes or expensive things, may be a sign that the child sold the things to pay off debt.
(Source: The police)
Read moreFACTSWhere is help available?
check All municipalities and regions offer support to children and families, even if it may look a little different in the country.
check In an emergency situation, contact the police on 114 14. You can also report one crimes anonymously on the police website and leave tips.
check There are also various helplines that children can call:
square1 BRIS, Children’s rights in society, at 116 111.
square1 Crime victim hotline: 116 006.
check Several municipalities have Youth Services which have emergency telephones, in many cases open around the clock. In Stockholm, the number is 08-508 25 481.
check Social services also offer support to parents of vulnerable children and also to the children themselves. To talk to social services, contact the social welfare office in your home municipality. The municipality’s website must have phone numbers and other ways you can contact them.
check On The police’s website also has information both for children whom criminal networks tried to contact and for parents.
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