Five men who targeted Grindr dating app users during a string of violent robberies face jail today, Monday, January 13. The gang stole more than £100,000 from victims in a ten-month rampage in Birmingham as well as Derby between April 2023 and February 2024.
They used fake Grindr accounts to lure people to parks in Birmingham where they attacked them with weapons, held them captive for hours and forced them to transfer large sums of cash from their banks. Many victims were hospitalised. The crooks also struck in Derby where they faked injuries to trick members of the public into helping them before pouncing on them.
Demalji Hadza, Abubaker Al Ezawy, Ali Hassan, Mohammed Sharif and Wasim Omar, all in their 20s and from Birmingham, were convicted of robbery offences. West Midlands Police said they deliberately preyed on members of the LGBTQ+ community in the hope of finding ‘easy targets’.
READ MORE: I lost my father to a speeding driver and then watched him avoid jail
But the force commended the bravery of victims in coming forward and helping to convict the gang. Follow live updates from the sentencing hearing at Birmingham Crown Court below.