Demalji Hadza, 21, Abubaker Alezawy, 21, Ali Hassan, 20, Wasim Omar, 24, and Mohammed Sharif, 22, all of whom are from Birmingham, were convicted on charges in September following a jury trial. The Birmingham Crown Court sentenced them to prison on Monday ranging from 12 to 17 years, per BBC News.
The incidents occurred in South Birmingham, Derby city center, and Golden Hillock Park.
According to court filings, the perpetrators lured their victims to specific locations after meeting them on the gay dating app Grindr. The victims were then held for hours and subjected to multiple severe assaults before the men seized their belongings. As they feared for their lives, the perpetrators used the victims' phones to transfer large sums of money from their bank accounts.
Additionally, the five men faked injuries to trick victims into helping them, per court documents, as reported by West Midlands police.
The convicted defendants also stole victims' vehicles and house keys and threatened them with death. The victims were left stranded stranded after the perpetrators took off with their identification documents, wallets, and car keys. Furthermore, the victims sustained severe injuries from the beatings such as broken eye sockets, dislocated shoulders, and broken noses. Many of them were hospitalized, according to court documents.
Detective Inspector Tom Lyons, from the West Midlands Police Major Crime Unit, said after the trial: "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," he continued.
The convicted men's mugshots, courtesy of the West Midlands Police Department:
Abubaker Alezawy
Demalji Hadza
Mohammed Sharif
Ali Hassan
Wasim Omar
