Three Birmingham men have been jailed for kidnapping a college student and forcing him to rob his own family home in what was suspected to be an “act of revenge”.
Brothers Ibrahim (18) and Hassan Rauf (22) of Yardley abducted the 18-year-old student in May last year, after the former deceived him into a shop in Balsall Heath by pretending to “feeling faint and needing help”, the West Midlands Police said.
“Hassan was lying in wait armed with a knife, and bundled the teenager into a Ford Fiesta in which he was repeatedly punched before snatching his phone,” officers added.
“The brothers took the victim in a car to their home in Yardley, where the victim’s face was covered with a hood and − having been put into a Vauxhall Astra − driven to his own home and forced to help another unknown accomplice steal a camera, Asian gold and £2,000 in cash.”
The student was later shoved out of the car in a Hall Green park where Hassan, joined by 24-year-old Hamza Yusuf of Moseley, again assaulted him with a flurry of punches and kicks.
“Our officers arrested the siblings from their home address two weeks later and seized CCTV showing Yusuf’s role in the kidnap and assault,” said a police statement.
Last December, the Birmingham Crown Court had found Ibrahim guilty of a further charge of robbery and Hassan of robbery and conspiracy to burgle.
On Thursday (25), Hassan, who faced an arrest warrant for failing to appear in court, was sentenced to nine years. Ibrahim was sentenced to four years, and Hamza to six years.
“This was very much an act of revenge: they believed the victim was involved in an earlier robbery in which Ibrahim Rauf’s phone was stolen,” said detective Craig Tennant.
“However, there was no evidence to suggest their claims were founded − and their reaction, kidnapping the teenager, attacking him, and threatening him with weapons, was totally unacceptable.
“There is never any excuse for people to take grievances into their own hands and carry out vigilante attacks − and anyone who does risks being jailed.”
