Five UK men have been convicted for a campaign of robberies committed between 2023 and 2024 within Birmingham and Derby.
Over the course of ten months, the men conspired, planned and committed robberies across Birmingham resulting in over £100,000 stolen. They found their victims using dating apps including Grindr.
Demalji Hadza, 21, Abubaker Alezawy, 21, Ali Hassan, 20, Wasim Omar, 24, and Mohammed Sharif, 22, were all convicted of the series of robberies.
Hadza and Alezawy pleaded guilty on day two of the trial. Hassan, Omar and Sharif were found guilty on 17th September following a five-week trial.
The court heart that the men, on a number of occasions, lured their victims to the offence locations for their own gain. They used dating apps such as Grindr to invite victims to meet them at locations under the pretence they were meeting up with a legitimate person from the app only to arrive and discover that person was a fiction.
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.
The group would trap their victims, where they were violently assaulted, had their belongings stolen and threats were made against them. Whilst 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.
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.
Police praised the tenacity and teamwork of officers who watched dozens of hours of CCTV, tracked vehicles, traced financial chains and worked with forensic phone specialists, which enabled them to identify and build a case of evidence against the men.
The five men were remanded and will be sentenced in November.
Detective Inspector Tom Lyons, from the West Midlands Police Major Crime Unit, said the robberies deliberately targeted vulnerable members of the community.
“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 outcome 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 the conviction was achieved, Detective Constable Sarah Byrne said the court case would not have been able to proceed without the victims coming forward.
“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.”
“We encourage any victims who have experienced similar crimes and are yet to report them to the police to get in touch with us.” DC Byrne said.
Earlier his week four youths were arrested in Perth and charged over a series of robberies that targeted people using the dating app Grindr. There have also been similar cases recently in Melbourne, Canberra and Brisbane.
