The mother of Britain’s youngest gang victim has called on people to ask themselves if taking drugs is worth it as children are “dropping like flies”.

Jaden Moodie, 14, was said to have been “groomed” by a drug gang before he was targeted by rival Mali Boys in east London.

As one of his killers, 19-year-old Ayoub Majdouline, was found guilty of his murder at the Old Bailey, Jaden’s mother branded them “cowards”.

In an interview with ITV News London, Jada Bailey called on people to question if taking drugs was worth it.

She said: “Everyone has freedom of choice. I’m not here to judge. Only God is the judge.

“But when you see children dropping like flies all around, that’s when you have to look into yourself and say, well, is this really worth it? Is this habit worth it?

“There’s lots of people to blame. It’s the groomers, it’s the dealers. It’s all sorts. But I think when children are dying, you really have to ask this question, is it really worth it? ”

On her “beautiful” son’s attackers, she said: “When they were killing him they could see he was a child.

“So I’ve got no sympathy and no words. They were cowards. He (Majdouline) killed a child. He’s a child killer.”

She went on: “I just miss him so terribly. I just want him home. I really do because he had his whole life ahead of him and had so much ambition and he loved everybody, was such a fun-loving young lad that would give his shirt off his back to anyone.

“And that was his only downfall. He was such a loyal friend. All the problems or challenges that came along was all because he was a loyal friend.”

When he was in school, “brazen” individuals came to the gates to groom children, but Jaden was no drug dealer or “kingpin” at the age of 14, she said.

Ms Bailey said: “You send your child to school and you think they’re going to be safe.

“So a lot of the security and police that they’ve assigned need to be assigned to the school gate and get them groomers away from the children.”