Bedford brothers who filmed acts of violence jailed

Mohammed Said (left), Mohammed Shakeel (middle) and Mohammed Shamrez (right) have been jailed for a total of over 31 years

Brothers who filmed their acts of violence while evicting vulnerable victims from flats have been jailed.

Mohammed Said, Mohammed Shakeel and Mohammed Shamrez used bolt croppers, baseball bats and a meat cleaver in attacks at properties in Bedford.

One man had his leg amputated after an attack, with victims humiliated, forced to grovel and lick the shoes of their attackers, Luton Crown Court heard.

Judge Alan Blake described the brothers as "rogue landlords cum enforcers" .

He described the offences, carried out at properties owned by their father, as being of "extreme brutality".

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.

Shakeel, 26 pleaded guilty to two offences of attempted grievous bodily harm and was jailed for six years and eight months.

Said, 24, pleaded guilty to three counts of attempted grievous bodily harm and one of actual bodily harm and was jailed for 10 years and nine months.

All three lived in Bromham Road, Bedford.

The men appeared at Luton crown court on Friday

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

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, 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.

'Downright chilling'

Judge Blake 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."

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."