The Birmingham Grindr robbers pretended their car had broken down as they targeted victims. Five men were jailed for almost 80 years for a campaign of robberies committed within Birmingham and Derby.
They conspired, planned and committed robberies across Birmingham resulting in over £100,000 stolen over the course of ten months. They undertook the offences at Golden Hillock Park, in South Birmingham and in Derby city centre between 2023 and last year.
They also relied upon the good nature of helpful members of the public by pretending to be injured in order to trick the victims into helping them. In one incident, the group pretended that their car had broken down in Derby at around 3am in April 2023, West Midlands Police said. When two innocent members of the public went to assist them in good faith, they were cruelly assaulted in robbed.
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Demalji Hadza, 21, was jailed for 16 years and two months, Abubaker Alezawy, 21, for 16 years and five months, Ali Hassan, 20, was sentenced was jailed for 16 years and nine months, Wasim Omar, 24, for 17 years and three months and Mohammed Sharif, 22 for 12 years and three months.
Centre: Demalji Hadza. Clockwise from top left: Ali Hassan, Mohammed Sharif, Wasim Omar and Abubaker Al Ezawy
Hadza and Alezawy pleaded guilty on day two of the trial, while Hassan, Omar and Sharif were found guilty on 17 September last year, following a six-week trial. These men, on a number of occasions, lured their victims to the offence locations for their own gain.
The group would trap their victims where they were violently assaulted, had their belongings stolen, and threats were made against them. While being held for hours and in fear of their lives, their phones were used to transfer large sums of money out of their bank accounts.
Footage showed the group attending cashpoints where they would also withdraw sums of money. They would attend shops to spend money using the stolen cards and were seen celebrating outside the shop.
The group of five also stole vehicles, house keys, and would terrify their victims with the threat of being stabbed, using large weapons to substantiate these threats before leaving them stranded by taking their car keys, wallets and identification documents.
Victims were left with injuries including broken eye sockets, dislocated shoulder, and a broken nose. Many of them required treatment in hospital.
In most of these attacks the suspects concealed their identity with masks or face coverings or held their victims down with their faces in the mud to prevent them from being able to identify them.
The tenacity and teamwork of officers who watched dozens of hours of CCTV, tracked vehicles, traced financial chains and worked with forensic phone specialists. This enabled police to identify and build a case of evidence against the dangerous group and bring their campaign to an end.
The group pretended that their car had broken down to target victims
(Image: WMP)
Detective Inspector Tom Lyons, from Birmingham LPA, said: “This was a calculated series of robberies with Hadza, Alezawy, Hasan, Omar and Sharif, deliberately targeting victims because they believed they were vulnerable, easy targets. My team conducted a lengthy investigation which required piecing together many strands of evidence.
“I know that it took the victims in this case a huge amount of bravery and courage to come forward and support the criminal justice process through to trial – and I commend them for doing so.
“Their evidence enabled us to launch a full-scale investigation and build a strong case, which ultimately brought the offenders to justice, and has undoubtedly prevented many other people from becoming a victim.
“I hope today’s sentencing provides reassurance that we take these types of offences extremely seriously, and always do everything in our power to bring offenders to justice. Those found committing offences like this can expect to face a considerable length of time in prison.”
Speaking after today’s sentencing, Detective Constable Sarah Byrne, said: “Convicting these individuals would have never been possible without the victims’ bravery in sharing their accounts with the police and court. We hope that seeing these individuals being held to account for their actions will bring closure for the victims.
“I would encourage anyone who has been subject to a similar ordeal to come forward and report it to police. All reports will be dealt with sensitively and victims will be supported by specially trained officers.”