Gang who used Grindr to rob victims jailed
Five men have been jailed for using dating app Grindr to target men in a series of robberies.
Demalji Hadza, 21, Abubaker Alezawy, 21, Ali Hassan, 20, Wasim Omar, 24, and Mohammed Sharif, 22, lured the men to meet before attacking them and stealing their belongings.
the gang Convicted last year £100,000 was stolen from men in Birmingham and Derby over 10 months.
Judge Sarah Buckingham said: “It is clear that those who did nothing to deserve what happened to them suffered long-lasting consequences.”
Police said victims were encouraged to come to a location on the pretext of meeting legitimate users on Grindr, a dating app for gay and bisexual men.
But when they arrived, they were attacked by an armed gang who attempted to steal money, vehicles, house keys and identification documents.
Detectives say some victims were held against their will for hours and feared for their lives as their accounts were searched.
