Members of a Birmingham gang who raided an Oxford cannabis factory mob-handed have been caged for more than 12 years.
The thieves travelled down in convoy from the West Midlands to east Oxford, ignoring lockdown rules and driving through the night to storm the converted semi in Tawney Street just before midnight on November 22 last year.
A neighbour’s CCTV-enabled doorbell captured the carnage unfold, as the raiders tore the cannabis factory’s front door off its hinges then apparently attacked the farmer – whose dinner was left half-finished in the kitchen.
In the footage above, played at the gang-of-six’s sentencing hearing on Monday, one of the men could be heard shouting ‘bat him, bat him’. The farmer was seen later, clutching his midriff and crying out as he fled the scene.
He was never found, despite police checking local A&E departments.
Sentencing the men to a total of 12 years and five months, Judge Nigel Daly said: “You played different roles, some simply transferred large amounts of cannabis from the attacked premises to cars. Some of you played a more involved part that evening.
“The occupant, the manager of the cannabis farm was attacked.
"As much cannabis as possible was removed from the house, running backwards and forwards between the house and the cars. Some large amounts of cannabis were actually dropped on the road. One large plant, which looked like a small tree, was picked up by a man on a bicycle, who tried to ride away with it.
“I am not dealing with possession with intent to supply, I am dealing with a much wider conspiracy involving deliberate planning, driving down from Birmingham, obtaining cars to transport what would have been a large quantity of cannabis, being involved in a large gang to get the cannabis and being ready and able to use violence on anyone who tried to stop you.”
Top boy Yarmohammad Alozai, 28, protested in the dock as he was told he was being sentenced to three years and seven months’ imprisonment.
Prosecutor Walton Hornsby told the court that a homeowner who saw the raid unfold believed Alozai may have been in charge the operation.
In the video, he could be seen on the video picking up a pole and was later one of three men who ran from the house at 12.05am to shouts of ‘get out, get out, quick, quick’. A Snapchat video found on co-defendant Mohammed Aziz’s phone showed Alozai in another cannabis farm earlier that day, holding a knife in one hand and a marijuana plant in the other. A caption on the video read: “Whoosh the Afghans I’m with fresh off the boat they’ll chop ur hand off for a roley.”
Oxford Crown Court heard the men had travelled down in convoy from Birmingham in a Mercedes C-class, Umar Jahangir’s Seat Ibiza and disabled 38-year-old Shane Hannon’s Vauxhall Crossland, hired for him through a mobility scheme.
After the raid, the Mercedes and the Crossland, which had a doctored numberplate to evade traffic cameras, got away. Jahangir’s Seat was stopped near the scene. Hannon, who said he’d agreed to let his car be used in order to wipe a drugs debt, was found nearby; he claimed at his trial he’d been pushed out the car.
Inside the house, police found 44 cannabis ‘root balls’ indicating the number of plants that were snatched by the raiders. A drugs expert estimated they could have weighed almost 8kg, with a wholesale value of £40,000 and a potential street value of £98,000. Another 78 plants were left behind by the raiders in their rush to leave.
The sentences received:
‘Organiser’ Yarmohammad Alozai, 28, of William Street, Swindon, pleaded guilty on the day of his trial to conspiracy to possession cannabis with intent to supply it and was jailed for 43 months.
‘Carrier’ Mohammed Aziz, 19, of Abbotsford Road, Birmingham, pleaded guilty to the charge and received 15 months’ imprisonment.
Shane Hannon, 38, of Upper High Street, Wednesbury, was found guilty of the conspiracy in August and received 30 months.
Adil Iqbal, 23, of Douglas Road, Adcocks Green, Birmingham, pleaded guilty at an early stage and was jailed for a year.
‘Driver’ Umar Jahangir, 25, of Tavistock Road, Birmingham, was found guilty of conspiracy and sentenced to 26 months’ imprisonment.
Shahgul Nawab, 21, of Lansdowne Road, Handsworth, Birmingham, admitted the charge and was sentenced to 13 months for the conspiracy and received a further 10 months’ imprisonment for a burglary in Birmingham.
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