A trio who organised 'Fast and Furious' style contests in Birmingham which was a 'hotspot' for illegal racing have been jailed.
Instagrammers Azhi Nagmadin and Rashani Reid used their popular 'Forza Birmingham' and 'Birmingham Outlaws' pages to promote meets while Jessica Roberts did the same using group chats on her phone.
The three were 'actively involved' in countless incidents in 2020 and 2021 described as 'festivals of dangerous driving'. Birmingham Crown Court heard the city was an illegal racing 'hotspot' with streets and supermarket car parks becoming 'no-go zones' leaving some residents so fed up they contemplated moving house.
Events typically involved dozens of cars and hundreds of people watching on, all at their own risk, while police resources were severely depleted trying to stop them. Three of the organisers were jailed on September 12 after admitting a common law public nuisance offence, despite all claiming they had put their old lifestyle behind them.
Reid, aged 32, from Lozells was sentenced to four years and two months while Nagmadin, 24, from Bartley Green, and Roberts, 30, of Northfield were both jailed for three years. Judge Peter Cooke described illegal street racing and car meets as 'a blight on the lives of people in this city'.
READ MORE: 'Hydrating' £15 toner loved by Emily in Paris star and Zendaya leaves skin 'glowing'
He said: "Racing on public streets or on other public spaces such as car parks causes a huge scale public disorder and nuisance. It bring inevitable high risk of injury to those participating but also to those who are onlookers, perhaps excited by and even encouraging what's going on, but standing unprotected and in close proximity to vehicles performing stunts and manoeuvres that cause the risk of immediate loss of control in the absence of a safety barrier. The risks are so blindingly obvious."
Prosecutor Jenny Josephs stated car meets, involving 'high performance' vehicles, increased during the Covid lockdown and were typically organised on social media, reported BirminghamLive. She said: "For those who lived in the area their lives were severely impacted. They couldn't safely use the roads for fear of serious injury seeing gatherings of 50 to 100 cars.
"The nuisance affected the enjoyment of their own homes. Some weren't able to hear their own TV's or get to sleep. Some contemplated moving house." Undercover police officers managed to infiltrate groups with organisers trying to stay one step ahead by revealing meeting locations at late notice and even setting up private groups.
Nagmadin was behind the 'Forza Birmingham' Instagram page which had around 20,000 followers. In May 2020 he was hit with a warning notice by police after driving his silver Ford Fiesta in a convoy of around 30 cars. But a month later he was posting adverts for illegal car meets.
He was linked to numerous incidents in Bartley Green and Nagmadin also promoted a meeting in the car park of Tesco in Digbeth leaving customers afraid to leave the store, which ultimately closed early. One witness compared it to a 'scene from Fast and Furious'.
In another event drivers used pedestrian crossings on the A47 Saltley Road as race checkpoints. At one point Nagmadin set up a private page called 'Forensic Detail' as he blamed 'snakes and rats' for tipping off the police. He requested members to the new account provide a picture of their registration plate to prove their authenticity.
Reid set up the 'Birmingham Outlaws' Instagram handle, which regularly re-posted 'Forza Birmingham' events. He was stopped by police in his Honda Civic in July 2020 but continued his involvement in race meets, including one at a Sainsbury's car park. Reid sold clothing for his Birmingham Outlaws brand and had even hoped to become a YouTube influencer.
Roberts' phone proved that she was also heavily involved in organising and promoting events. Police found more than 130 pages of iMessages when they seized the device. PC Mark Campbell, from Operation Hercules set up to tackle street racing, stated car meets came close to a 'daily occurrence' and required huge policing, including traffic, dog and drone units as well as the force helicopter.
Samuel Leach, defending Nagmadin, stated he had shown 'genuine remorse', was 'deeply ashamed' and had admitted he was 'immature' at the time. He told the court he was now working full time for a car seller and was expecting a baby with his wife in matter of weeks.
Akaal Sidhu, for Reid, stated the 'trigger' for his involvement was his 'thinking skills and lifestyle'. He argued his young son had given him a 'new focus' for his future and said: "At the time behaving in such a way he thought he was going to be a growing YouTuber and influencer advertising such events."
Marie de Redman, mitigating for Roberts, told the court she had been a victim of school bullying followed by an abusive relationship, which left her with low self esteem. She described her client as a 'people pleaser' and said she felt 'valued' in the racing sub-culture which gave her 'the social acceptance she craved'. Ms de Redman added that Roberts had since cut ties with her previous associates and 'isolated herself from that community'.
But Judge Cooke rejected the defence calls to suspend sentences as he declared the trio were 'sticking two fingers up to the rest of us' in what was 'deliberate, persistent and intentional anti-social behaviour'. He acknowledged they had all 'moved on' in their lives but concluded the case was about 'just punishment for past behaviour'.
Judge Cooke continued: "You were repeatedly inviting numerous people, it must run into the hundreds, repeatedly inviting hundreds of people to in-effect participate in festivals of dangerous driving."
