Mechanic jailed for 22 years over Gavin Parry death
Birmingham courts handed down a series of heavy sentences during July 2026, with one of the most notable cases involving mechanic Theo Bailey, who was jailed for 22 years for his role in the fatal shooting of suspected 'Burger Bar Boy' Gavin Parry. The 31-year-old victim was killed in a car repair unit in Winson Green after returning with a Sten machine gun and wearing a bulletproof vest, but was shot dead before he could open fire.
Bailey, 34, from Handsworth, was found guilty of manslaughter and perverting the course of justice. The court heard he was one of 13 people inside the unit at the time of the killing, and the identity of the gunman remains unknown. Bailey had retrieved a large item from another unit and switched off CCTV at the industrial estate just before Mr Parry's return.
Other manslaughter cases: fatal injection and flat fire
In a separate manslaughter case, Craig Billingsley, 40, from Erdington, injected his girlfriend Natalie Lloyd-Perks with heroin. The 40-year-old nurse, who had been introduced to the drug during their relationship, never woke up. The couple had been drinking alcohol and taking cocaine together at their home in Aston the night before. Billingsley admitted manslaughter and was sentenced to three years.
Stephen Dale, 47, from Bordesley Green, was jailed for 19 years with an extended five-year licence period after killing his girlfriend's ex-boyfriend, Daniel Gardner, by setting fire to the front of his flat in Highters Heath. The 36-year-old father died from smoke inhalation and burn injuries. Tyler Phythian, 19, who went to the flat with Dale, was convicted of arson and a separate assault, receiving four years detention.
Violent domestic abusers jailed
Amir Khan, 25, was jailed for 30 years for attempted murder after striking his wife Madia Bano, 25, in the head with a screwdriver or similar item at their home in Lozells. The mother of four was left permanently brain damaged and has remained in a coma. Khan, an illegal immigrant, claimed he found his wife unconscious and has never explained what happened. The court was told she would die if medical intervention was removed.
Mohammad Mostafa, 27, from Small Heath, admitted drug supply offences as well as controlling and coercive behaviour, assault and strangulation. He controlled his wife, who worked for the police, demanding photos of her whereabouts and immediate responses to calls and texts. He became violent during the relationship, attacking her in a car, strangling her in the bedroom, and slapping her at hospital while she was in labour. He was jailed for five years and two months.
Drug dealers and gang members sentenced
Several drug lines were disrupted in July. Ishaaq Shazad, Mohammed Asim and Mohammed Butt operated the 'Ace' drugs line from Birmingham, supplying cocaine and heroin in Stourbridge. Butt, 34, played a significant leading role and was jailed for eight years and six months; Shazad, 36, received six years and six months; and Asim, 34, was sentenced to three years and six months.
Chad Lee, 36, was caught storing more than £24,000-worth of cocaine in a unit at Minworth Storage Solutions. He was recalled to prison and sentenced to three years and eight months after admitting drug supply offences, having returned to his old trade after a previous ten-year sentence. Hamad Kiani, 42, from Bordesley Green, admitted offering 'fat sizes' of cocaine and heroin for sale and was jailed for two years and eight months.
Zaheer Hussain, Safraz Ali and Bashir Hassan supplied drugs from Birmingham to Weston-super-Mare via the 'Chase Line', with around 2,700 customers using codewords 'coffee and milk' for cocaine and heroin. Hussain and Ali, both 27, were each jailed for five years and seven months, while Hassan, 20, received six years. Adrian Domi, 32, was jailed for three years after hiding more than 41 bags of cocaine in socks when his car was stopped in Bromford.
Oliwier Gabis, 20, admitted perverting the course of justice for helping his friend Oumar Traore evade police after Traore fatally stabbed 19-year-old Yassin Alama in Handsworth. Gabis booked Ubers and arranged accommodation for Traore, who is due to be sentenced later this year. Gabis was jailed for three years and nine months.
Sex offenders brought to justice
Keith Allen, an 82-year-old music teacher well known in Birmingham's orchestras and choirs, was jailed for eight years and six months after being found guilty of raping a 17-year-old girl in 1992. He had groomed her during private tuition at his home in Harborne and forced her into sex when she was suffering an allergic reaction to Chinese food and told him 'no'.
Sean Sewell, 46, from Newtown, admitted exposure and child sexual assault after exposing himself to a woman on a bus and assaulting a ten-year-old girl in a city centre pub. He was jailed for six years and five months. Daniel Thomas, 49, was jailed for 20 years after being found guilty of nine counts of rape and two of sexual assault against two women in Ladywood and Edgbaston. Michael Wisdom, 67, was jailed for 12 years for sexually abusing a young girl in 1979 and possessing indecent images, having tried to destroy mobile phones containing the images.
Other offenders and shoplifters
Linda Clifford, 61, from Great Barr, was jailed for three years and nine months for wounding her son-in-law Richard Evans with a stab to the neck and smashing his van windscreen. David Walton, 37, admitted 13 counts of theft in a shoplifting spree in Ward End and was jailed for six months. Reece Allamby, 28, from Bartley Green, was jailed for five-and-a-half years after admitting firearms, ammunition and affray. He kept a loaded pistol on top of a wardrobe and was the driver of a car from which two men attacked another man in the Jewellery Quarter.
These cases reflect a month of serious criminal activity across Birmingham, with sentences totalling many decades. The courts continue to deal with a backlog of cases, and many offenders will spend years behind bars for their crimes.
