Violence broke out as rival gangs fought for territory

Violence broke out as gangs fought for turf
By Mark Cowan

Mar 24 2009, Birmingham Mail

THE murders of teenage party-goers Letisha Shakespeare and Charlene Ellis six years ago brought into sharp focus the gang problem that had plagued the city for a decade.

The innocent girls were caught in the crossfire as members of notorious street gangs, Burger Bar Boys and the Johnson Crew, fought a deadly battle on the streets.

Investigators believe the gangs’ roots can be traced back to the 1980s when groups of young black men banded together to counter threats to their community from the Far Right. They soon evolved into criminal street gangs battling each other and Jamaican Yardies for control of the booming crack cocaine market.

The Johnson Crew’s territory was Aston and Nechells while the Burger Bar Boys claimed Handsworth, Lozells and Perry Barr.

By the late 90s, the gangs had become chaotic and the city saw a rise in gun crime and stabbings as they brazenly targeted each other in public, with shootings developing from organised hits in conflicts over the drug trade to tit-for-tat issues of “respect, revenge and revenue”.

Their street war came to a head in January 2003 when members of the Burger Bar Boys went hunting rival Johnson Crew members at a party at a hairdressers in Aston. Letisha, aged 17, and 18-year-old Charlene, were murdered in a drive-by shooting. Their murders galvanised the city into action.

Within three years the gangs were splintered as almost all of the 50 ‘Most Wanted’ members of the two gangs were behind bars with members of the Burgers jailed over the girls’ murders and members of the Johnson Crew imprisoned for the murder of doorman Ishfaq Ahmed, killed in 2004.

A raft of new measures were also introduced to mediate between the warring factions to stop the tensions from spilling over onto the streets and give gang members an option to escape their lifestyle.

While it is debatable whether the two street gangs exert the same control they once did, the influence on youngsters attracted to what they see as a glamorous lifestyle is undeniable.

Younger gangs, made up mostly of teenagers attracted by the lure of being part of a gang, emerged with names such as Slash For Money Crew and the Bang Bang Crew. A trivial row between members of those gangs led to the stabbing of Odwayne Barnes in Birmingham city centre in March 2007.

Despite a drop in shootings, the gang problem has not disappeared. Last summer police saw an increase in tensions on the streets that led to an increase in gun crime and two murders.