Grindr date robberies: Teens jailed over fake Birmingham dates Published duration 11 December 2019

image copyright West Midlands Police image caption Mohammed Sohail Khan and Qaasim Ahmad have each been jailed 13 years and four months

Three teenagers who used fake Grindr profiles to carry out robberies and homophobic assaults have been jailed.

Muhammad Umar, Mohammed Sohail Khan and Qaasim Ahmad, all 18, used the gay dating app to lure four men on false dates in Birmingham.

One of the victims was spat on while another was tied up, the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) said.

Khan and Ahmad were sentenced to 13 years and four months, while Umar was jailed for 11 years and three months.

Between January and March, the defendants would "rob, assault and inflict verbal homophobic hatred upon these victims during fraudulent meetings", the CPS said.

image copyright West Midlands Police image caption Muhammad Umar was jailed for 11 years and three months

One of the victims was spat on and DNA evidence showed it matched that of Umar, the CPS said.

In a victim impact statement another man said he was "forced to lay face down in the dirt with my hands and legs bound not knowing if I would ever see my family again."

Evidence was found on the mobile phones belonging to the defendants and searches at their homes uncovered items connecting them to the crimes, the CPS added.

In September, Khan, of George Road, Birmingham, and Umar, of Denville Crescent, Bordesley Green, admitted conspiracy to burgle and conspiracy to rob.

Ahmad, of Heather Road, Small Heath, was convicted of conspiracy to rob, conspiracy to falsely imprison and conspiracy to burgle on 1 October.

"The defendants targeted the victims in this case because they believed they would be too ashamed of their sexual orientation to provide evidence to the police and court," Michael Disney, of the CPS, said.

"The defendants did not take into account that there is no shame in being gay and they did not anticipate the courage and bravery of the victims, who showed remarkable strength in reliving the horrific brutality of the defendants actions against them."

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