The teenage women killed in gang conflict that shocked the nation
- Letisha Shakespeare, 17, and Charlene Ellis, 18, had been killed in 2003 taking pictures
- Birmingham youngsters had been caught in crossfire of feud between two gangs
- Two factions, The Burgers and the Johnson Crew, had been infamous for turf conflict
It was an horrific drive-by taking pictures that shocked Britain and threw a highlight on two warring gangs terrorising Birmingham.
At round 4am on January 2, 2003, finest associates Letisha Shakespeare, 17, and Charlene Ellis, 18, had been gunned down in a hail of bullets exterior a New Year social gathering.
The two harmless youngsters had been caught within the crossfire of an escalating feud between two rival factions: the Burger Bar Boys and the Johnson Crew.
Named after cafes the place black youths met within the late Nineteen Eighties, the gangs initially shaped as a response to far-Right exercise in Birmingham.
But as such extremism receded within the Nineteen Nineties, they turned to the profitable commerce in crack cocaine and heroin, preventing off and displacing town’s ruthless Jamaican-born Yardie gangsters.
Best associates Letisha Shakespeare, 17, (proper) and Charlene Ellis, 18, (second from left) had been gunned down in a hail of bullets exterior a New Year social gathering in Birmingham, in 2003
Separated by the A34, the 2 factions turned infamous for bloody turf wars, with rival gang members utilizing weapons and appalling violence to settle scores.
The Burgers, whose territory included Handsworth and Smethwick, had been mentioned to be the richer and extra ruthless, whereas the Johnson Crew, primarily based in Aston and Lozells, had extra members.
Charlene and Letisha had been leaving a celebration at a hairdressing salon in Aston when 4 members of the Burger Bar Boys pulled up in a automotive and opened fireplace on a crowd with a MAC-10 machine gun and two automated 9mm pistols.
Their meant goal was a member of the Johnson Crew who had been upsetting them earlier on stage at a nightclub.
Two different younger girls, Charlene’s twin sister, Sophie, and Cheryl Shaw, 17, had been wounded.
The taking pictures shocked the nation, with hundreds flocking to a live performance at Villa Park in reminiscence of the murdered youngsters.
It additionally prompted a police crackdown. Later that 12 months undercover officer Neil Woods infiltrated the Burger Bar Boys in Northampton, the place they’d expanded their medicine operation.
Speaking to the MoS final night time, Mr Woods mentioned the operation caught 96 individuals however had no affect on the availability of medication.
‘We managed to interrupt the drug provide in Northampton for a full two hours,’ he mentioned: ‘Another gang took up the chance.
‘Violence got here afterwards, as at all times, and the market stayed the identical.’
Another outbreak of gang violence in 2015 and 2016, with 20 firearm offences, led to a ‘landmark’ authorized injunction with 18 suspects banned from areas of Birmingham and from making rap movies.
They included Lawrence Morgan, whose deportation was foiled by the passenger revolt, and his good friend Naasir Francis, killed in a 2020 shootout.
A large number of road gangs has at the moment changed the 2 crews, together with Armed Response, a splinter group of the Burger Bar, and ‘GMG’ (Guns and Money Gang), aligned with the Johnsons.
Another outbreak of gang violence in 2015 and 2016, with 20 firearm offences, led to a ‘landmark’ authorized injunction with 18 suspects banned from areas of Birmingham and from making rap movies, together with Lawrence Morgan
{A photograph} of the gun carried by Lawrence Morgan by Birmingham metropolis centre in 2016
Some senior members of the unique gangs, nevertheless, nonetheless exert enormous affect and are mentioned to unfold worry and intimidation. ‘They could be of their mid-fifties however they’re nonetheless gamers,’ mentioned one well-connected supply.
