A map produced by West Midlands Police, shown extensively to a jury during the latest postcode gang murder trial, illustrates how modern gangs have ripped up north Birmingham, maintaining the deadly territories of the infamous Burger Bar Boys and Johnson Crew.
Map Reveals Gang Territories
The map, which resembles a political affiliation chart, was presented in the trial of Oumar Traore, then 17, who stabbed to death rival gang member Yassin Alama, 19, in Handsworth last November. Traore was convicted of murder and faces a life sentence. He was a member of the Handsworth Wood 'B20' gang, denoted in purple on the map. Yassin was affiliated with gangs on the Aston side to the east, marked in blue.
Pc Gareth Evans, who has worked in Birmingham gang intelligence since 2010, gave evidence and confirmed the colours are significant, used by rivals to identify themselves and each other. This can be as simple as using certain emojis on social media or wearing deliberately coloured clothing, such as shoelaces or bandanas.
Modern Gangs and Their Heritage
Today's pretenders maintain the old territories once associated with the Burger Bar Boys of the Handsworth side and their sworn enemies, the Johnson Crew, on the Aston side. The original gangs rose out of riots in the mid-1980s, but their decades-long war tore neighbourhoods apart. Pc Evans stated that the Burgers and Johnsons no longer exist, with members dead, in jail, or older. However, the torch has passed to a newer generation of younger, more volatile gangsters, often children groomed out of school from impoverished backgrounds.
Modern groups include Armed Response (AR) on the red side postcodes of Handsworth, Hockley, and Winson Green, with allies like the Bandits and Get Round Der (GRD). On the blue territories of Newtown, Lozells, Aston, and Erdington, there are groups such as 9Boyz, Get Money Gang (GMG), Goon Squad Army/Get Some Ambition (GSA), Get Back Gang, and 23 Drillas.
Cycle of Violence Continues
Pc Evans noted that modern groups likely do not know the context and history behind their infamous ancestors, yet they willingly put their lives on the line to uphold traditions. Respect is earned by crossing enemy lines and confronting opposition members, often with knives or guns. Maiming and murder follow, fuelled by bragging in drill rap videos and social media posts.
The conflict between Traore and Yassin arose after Yassin's 14-year-old brother mocked the deaths of certain B20 members on Snapchat, including 16-year-old Sekou Doucoure, known as 'SK', Traore's older cousin. Traore retaliated by chasing Yassin's brother in a shop, filming the incident. Yassin then entered opposition territory alone, armed with a knife, but was killed in a knife fight with Traore on Hutton Road.
The result is one teenager dead and another facing decades in prison, continuing the corrosive cycle of gang culture in Birmingham.
