Thug family of landlords filmed extreme violence against tenants in Bedford

A family of thugs who filmed the extreme violence they carried out to evict vulnerable victims from their flats have been jailed for a total of more than 31 years.

Brothers Mohammed Shamrez, Mohammed Shakeel and Mohammed Said used weapons including a metal pole, bolt croppers baseball bats and a meat cleaver during the attacks at their father’s properties in Bedford.

One man had his leg amputated after it was left hanging at a right angle.

Victims were humiliated, forced to grovel and lick the shoes of their attackers.

At Luton Crown Court, Judge Alan Blake described the brothers as “rogue landlords-cum-enforcers” whose offences were ones of “extreme brutality”.

Shamrez was said to revel in dominance and repeatedly told his victims he “owned Bedford”.

The judge said the recordings showed they gained “gratification and even sadism” from the attacks and could be used to engender a culture of fear around them.

He told Shamrez: “Your arrogance and apparent relish for the violence you were inflicting is downright chilling. The videos are a deeply disturbing real-time catalogue of your offences.”

Mohammed Shamrez, 38, pleaded guilty to grievous bodily harm, two offences of attempted grievous bodily harm and two of actual bodily harm. He was jailed for 14 years and six months.

Mohammed Shakeel, 26, pleaded guilty to two offences of attempted GBH and was jailed for six years and eight months.

Mohammed Said, 24, pleaded guilty to three counts of attempted GBH and one of ABH and was jailed for 10 years and nine months.

All three lived in Bromham Road, Bedford.

In May 2020, Mohammed Shamrez and a family member forced their way into a flat in Bromham Road.

They punched and kicked a visitor and attacked him with a metal pole. He was left with a broken leg in two places.

After the attack, Shamrez told the victim: “Do you know who I am? This is my building – you aren’t going to leave this building alive”.

Police investigating the attack arrested another brother, Mohammed Shakeel, the same day. On his phone, they found video footage of seven further assaults, dating back to February 2019.

Some of the harrowing footage includes the men holding their victim upside down, attacking them with bolt croppers, as well as punching and kicking another victim to the point he was left with a fractured rib.

In another case, a man who had had an argument with one of their wives over a parking space was attacked with a baseball bat the next day, while one of the brothers was also armed with a meat cleaver.

Det Con Matthew Jarman said: “These three thugs have operated a brutal enforcement business of violence and intimidation targeting anyone they considered ‘undesirable’ in their properties.

“All of their victims were vulnerable in some way. These men are vile and cowardly bullies who have preyed on vulnerable victims as part of their enforcement racket.

“Some of the video footage we uncovered in our investigation is truly shocking. Their victims have been left understandably terrified by these attacks, and I want to thank all of them for their bravery in coming forward and cooperating with us to put these despicable men behind bars.

“What we have seen here is how violence, exploitation and organised crime are linked. Vulnerable people right here in Bedfordshire are at risk of being groomed, taken advantage of and abused by thugs like this, in the name of all manner of criminal activity.

"We all have a responsibility to be aware of this. This is not some distant problem. This exploitation is happening right here in our communities. If you have concerns about someone or something, please report it to us."

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