Rival gangs banned from areas of Birmingham in landmark court ruling

Eighteen men from two notorious crime gangs have been banned from entering areas of Birmingham following a landmark court ruling. 

The action, which also prevents the men associating with each other or participating in music videos that promote gang-related violence, was taken against the men after a spate of firearms offences that brought terror to the streets of the city during the summer of 2015 and start of 2016.

Ten of the men are currently serving prison sentences, including Reial Phillips, 21, who was at the heart of a series of turf war shootings in the city, which left eight people injured.

The shootings were part of an ongoing feud between the Burger Boys Gang and the Johnson Crew, which escalated when members of the opposing factions uploaded rap videos online to taunt one another.

West Midlands Police and Birmingham City Council have now secured full injunctions against the 18 men in what is believed to be the largest group gang injunction ever secured.

The men, who are aged between 19 and 29, are forbidden from associating with each other and also from entering areas of Birmingham, including the city centre, Handsworth, Newtown, Winson Green and Lozells for the next two years.

Another condition of the injunctions is that they are banned from participating in the music videos that promote or support gang-related violence.

The injunctions were granted last month after more than 80 witnesses gave evidence at Birmingham Crown Court and also allow police to restrict the vehicles and mobile phones they use.

Police and the council previously secured interim injunctions following a spate of gun and drug-related crime in the city during 2015.

The ban was welcomed by anti-gun campaigner Marcia Shakespeare, whose 17-year-old daughter Letisha was shot dead in a drive-by shooting during a turf war between the two gangs.

Letisha had been at a party with friends when she and cousin Charlene Ellis, 18, were killed in a hail of machine gun bullets in the early hours of January 2 2003. Charlene's twin sister Sophie and cousin Cheryl Shaw were also hit but survived.

Four men were jailed in connection with the killings. Mrs Shakespeare described the gangs as "vermin" who should be smashed by "any means".

She said: "It's a big shock to still see so many young people involved in gangs. "The information presented by the police and city council identifies how important gang injunctions are.

"I welcome any resources which can help tackle the spread of gangs, guns and drugs.

"I see gangs as vermin in Birmingham and any means to help stop it spreading to vulnerable, naive and innocent young people is a positive way forward in our war on violent crime.

"Because as I have said, time and time again, violent crime has no winners. It just causes heartache, pain and has a life-changing impact on innocent victims and the perpetrators' families."

Detective Sergeant Ian Comfort, lead detective from the force's CID prevent team, said: "We set out to disrupt and curtail gang activity following around 20 firearm offences involving Birmingham gangs during the summer of 2015 and into the start of 2016.

"This is relatively new legislation and we believe that securing final full injunctions on such a large number of gang members is a UK first.

"The injunctions are applied for in the civil court in addition to sentences handed out by the criminal court for offences.

"They are an additional measure to help control the offenders and keep the community safe."

Superintendent Mat Shaer, the Neighbourhood Policing Superintendent for Birmingham, said "exhaustive" attempts had been made to try to steer the men away from gang culture.

"These are individuals who pose threat, risk and harm to themselves and to others," he told the Press Association. "It's the number and fact they're full orders that makes this quite unique."

He said many of the men were "very well-known to local officers" and the force's dedicated gangs unit would now be responsible for making sure they obeyed the terms of the injunctions and gather further evidence if there were any breaches.

"We would like to thank the people living in the area where these gangs operate for having the courage to come forward with information that has helped us secure the injunctions," he added.

"We now turn to our communities to act as our eyes and ears and inform us if they see these men associating with each other or if they see them in the exclusion zones."

The men are Naasir Francis, 19, from Nechells, Baboucar Huma, 19, from Handsworth, Akeen Ivy-Foster, 20, from Springhill, Ravelle Hutchinson, 20, from Winson Green, Tesfa Bernard-Wheeler, 21, from Hockley, Rayani Sutherland, 21, from Aston, Omarni Bernard-Sewell, 21, from Selly Oak, Lawrence Morgan, 21, from Nechells, Jerome Jones, 21, from Erdington, Jerome Christie, 21, from Nechells, Reial Phillips, 21, from Winson Green, Ushane Jeffers, 23, from Newtown, Kayne Robinson, 23, from Springhill, Ashai Grey, 23, from Walsall, Jacob Brown, 24, from Handsworth, Cash Wallace, 24, from Winson Green, Ishmail Lee, 29, from Wolverhampton, and Isaac Duffus, 28, from Erdington.