Social media influencers jailed for organising ‘festivals of harmful driving’
A trio of social media influencers who threw “festivals of dangerous driving” have been slapped with more than 10 years behind bars for setting up illegal street races.
Ahzi Nagmadin, Jessica Roberts and Rashani Reid hyped these dodgy events on sites like Instagram, leading to their downfall.
Nagmadin, a retail assistant aged 24, nabbed roughly 20,000 followers on an account buzzing about the illicit races, teasing locations before kicking off.
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Snapshots of flashy motors at the gathers would pepper his feed after the fact.
Roberts, 30 and working in childcare, had her mobile stuffed with texts planning these hush-hush meets.
While unemployed Reid got his twisted kicks pretending to be an “influencer”, splashing posts all over another Insta page.
The Birmingham-based trio coughed to causing ruckus in public and were carted off to jail for the hefty stretch last Monday (16/9).
As they start their stint, the cops flaunted footage from one barmy race, complete with bangers flying around at Fort Parkway, Brum.
Another clip showed a motor flaunting its moves on Floodgate Street in Digbeth, courtesy of a police chopper.
Birmingham Crown Court got the scoop on how these mischief-makers were tripped up by their not-so-smart social shenanigans.
One cheeky post by Reid showed the filth checking out his Honda Civic post-pull-over.
The lad even dared to blab on his snap: “Can’t wait for all the heat to die down so we can hit the strip.”
A trio of hooligans who staged perilous car racing stunts during lockdown have been thrown behind bars, with Nagmadin and Roberts landing a three-year stint and Reid facing four years and two months in the slammer.
The West Midlands Police unleashed Operation Hercules to clamp down on the outlawed motor mania after an outbreak of renegade races stormed through Birmingham and the Black Country amidst Covid restrictions.
Coppers slapped fines and bans on wild spectators and daredevil drivers at these banned bashes.
Detective Constable Mark Campbell said: “These organisers played different but important roles in organising meet-ups around Birmingham, including many during lockdown.”
“Nagmadin was proud of the brand identity he had created, with stickers and logos being created to promote what was described in court as ‘festivals of dangerous driving’.”
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“Reid wanted to be a social media influencer, but this was described as ‘warped and misguided’ by the judge.”
“Reid was exposing countless people to the risk of serious injury or death on the roads.”
“On Roberts’ phone, we found more than 100 pages worth of messages to various numbers organising meets from 2019 to 2021, with warnings about where police were out and about looking for street racers.”
“These lengthy prison sentences are a warning to anyone taking part.”
“The judge sentencing these three said people who organise these events require appropriate punishment, which can only achieve by prison sentences.”
“We know that social media accounts can change owners and operators easily, but we are coming for anyone who is involved in organising these events and they too can expect lengthy prison terms.”
