Victims were coaxed to Bordesley Green Park by teen thugs before they were mugged and assaulted
The four men who were attacked were left fearing for their survival after they responded to an ad posted by fake accounts on the dating platform. All of them had their ordeals video recorded, and they were forced to complete humiliating tasks in order to degrade them on the basis of their homosexuality.
Mohammed Khan of Hay Mills, Mohammed Umar from Bordesley Green and Qaasim Ahmad from Small Heath, all aged 18, planned and took part in the horrific schemes. They were found guilty of conspiracy to rob and falsely imprison. They were sentenced to at least 10 years in prison each.
A total of three of the four victims were bound by hand and foot. One was made to walk through dog excrement, another had a pair of socks stuffed into his mouth, and two were urinated on.
The mobsters trailed at Birmingham Crown Court. Judge Heidi Kubic QC stated that the case victims: “had the courage to come forward and publicise their ordeal. You subjected your victims to serious physical assaults, and you threatened them with various weapons, including a large hunting knife, a screwdriver and you used a metal bar to inflict injuries.”
The judge also explained how the victims were made to come to secluded areas and dragged into bushes. They were threatened into handing over their mobile phones, car keys, wallets and security numbers. The perpetrators of the attacks regularly took advantage of the spoils of their crimes, booking lavish hotels rooms and the like.
One victim was informed told he deserved to be robbed since he was a “white man responsible for attacks on Muslims in New Zealand.” Another had a severe wound inflicted on him; whilst a third had his jacket stabbed and was threatened to into having a screwdriver plunged into his eye.
Miss Caroline Carberry QC, prosecuting, made the following statement: “These were well planned, violent and degrading crimes which deliberately targeted gay men who they viewed to be soft targets.”
