15 jailed for conspiring to burgle cannabis factories after Brierley Hill drug dealer crossbow murders

Fifteen men have been jailed for over 100 years for their parts in a string of burglary offences which culminated in the murder of two men at a cannabis factory.

Nineteen year-old Khuzaimiah Douglas and 36-year-old Waseem Ramzan were murdered with a crossbow while trying to protect their cannabis grow in Pensnett Road, Brierley Hill in February 2020.

Wasseem’s Drug dealer brother Saghwat Ramzan was jailed for the murders alongside his son Omar Ramzan and Mohammed Sangeer a year later in February 2021. Kickboxer Douglas was in the gang attempting to burgle the cannabis factory and was fatally caught in the crossfire.

Prior to the murders, an investigation was already underway by West Midlands Police following a series of burglaries and attempted burglaries in the early hours of 17 December 2019. The organised crime group committing the offences were targeting cannabis factories, often with the aid of a thermal imaging gun. Another tactic saw them following likely cannabis farmers from hydroponic retailers back to where there was a likely grow.

Police discovered three mobile phones in a car which crashed into a wall after the double murder in Brierley Hill which helped them to start linking the members of the group and their movements.  DNA from items left behind supported other evidence that the defendants were at the scene.

Get a bespoke headline round-up, as well as breaking updates, when you sign up to BirminghamWorld’s free emails

Detective Superintendent Jim Munro said; “The activities of this group were already on our radar when sadly the raid in Pensnett Road ended in bloodshed. It is inevitable that criminality on this scale comes with a risk of extreme violence.

“Although the murder investigation concluded with three men jailed, we continued our enquiries into those linked in some way to the activities of the group. Our officers studied hours of CCTV and linked hundreds of phone records to place the defendants at the scene of the crimes.

“Their determination paid off and this week we have seen these men jailed for more than 100 years. This is a significant message to anyone who thinks they can get away with burglary. The impact on victims is devastating and we will do all we can to bring perpetrators to justice.”

The following pleaded guilty and have been jailed for conspiracy to commit burglary and aggravated burglary: (Pictured left to right)

Godfree Mbugoniwia, aged 25 from Brunswick Road, Birmingham – 11 years

Omari Beckford, aged 28 from Northumberland Way, Walsall – 12 years and seven months  

Troy Parkins, aged 28 from Claughton Road, Dudley – 13 years and seven months 

Jason Kavanagh, aged 24 of no fixed address – five years and 11 months

Bradley Knight, aged 26 from Tugford Road, Bournville – six years 

William Thompson, aged 30 from Sedgehill Avenue, Birmingham – eight years and six months

Karam Sanghera, aged 25 from Manningford Road, Birmingham – nine years and six months

The following have pleaded guilty to some offences and were found guilty following a trial which ended on 4 October for other offences of conspiracy to commit aggravated burglary. They have been sentenced as follows:

(Pictured left to right)

Lewis Graver, aged 25 from Primrose Lane, Hall Green – 11 years    

Lewis Azzopardi, aged 28 from Eureka Gardens, Wolverhampton – nine years

Reed Smith, aged 27 from Brunswick Road, Balsall Heath – nine years

The following have pleaded guilty to some offences and have been found guilty following a trial which concluded on 8 December at Wolverhampton Crown Court for other offences of conspiracy to commit burglary. They have been sentenced as follows:

(Pictured left to right)

Hisham Lewis, aged 24 from Grove Avenue, Selly Oak – two years and four months    

Said Ammaid, aged 27 from Edward Road, Birmingham – three years and six months    

Billal Akram, aged 28 from Buffery Road, Dudley – two years

Micah Evans, aged 23 from Foster Avenue, Bilston – three years   

Amir Nasiri, aged 25 from Swinford Road, Birmingham – three years  

All defendants will have to serve at least two thirds of their sentence before being eligible for parole.

The investigation timeline

Police said that their investigation showed that, while not all of the offenders were at all of the offences, they were all linked in one way or another.

The first attempted burglary happened just after midnight on Northcote Street in Walsall. As men from three vehicles attempted to force their way in through the door, the householder tried to defend himself and was attacked with a machete, receiving head and hand injuries. The offenders made off with nothing, the house being a family home and not the cannabis farm they hoped for.

Two hours later a house in Bearwood Road, Warley was broken into and when police arrived they found evidence of a cannabis set-up.

At the same time a further attempt was made to gain access to a house in Dog Kennel Lane, Oldbury, where again an innocent occupant was injured after being struck to his head with a wooden mallet.

Just minutes later in Greswolde Road, Sparkhill as others members of the gang attempted entry, the occupant, fearing for his life, jumped from a bedroom window breaking his ankle and requiring months of treatment. The intruders stole electrical items from the address.

Around 3am the last attempted break-in at Grove Road in Sparkhill resulted in the occupant being attacked with a machete and receiving serious injuries to his arms. Clearly looking for cannabis, the offenders were told they had the wrong house.

Officers located a rental VW Golf crashed into a wall nearby which had been used in the raid and inside found a mobile phone for one of the offenders. Analysis of the phone linked him to other suspects and the person who had hired the car. He claimed it had been stolen, but out enquiries proved otherwise and he was ultimately charged with perverting the course of justice.

Four days later another break-in at Highfield Road in Washwood Heath yielded an established cannabis grow over a number of floors. A team of investigators set about trawling CCTV to identify vehicles common to each break-in and tracking their movements.