Teo teenagers have been sentenced for their roles in a series of linked violent robberies in Manchester between December 2024 and January 2025.
Bilal Jama 28, of Kingsmere Avenue, Levenshulme was sentenced to three-and-a-half years.
Michael Ogbeide-John 18, of Meldon Road, Longsight, has been sentenced to four years in prison.
Both were sentenced today at Manchester Crown Court after earlier pleading guilty to three counts of robbery and one of attempted robbery. Ogbeide-John additionally plead guilty to possession of a bladed article.
The first offence occurred after a victim reported to police that he messaged an account on Facebook on Friday 20 December 2024. The account was under the name ‘Angela Davies’. He was trying to purchase a grey mountain bike which was advertised by the seller for £140, and after making arrangements to meet the seller to purchase the bike the next day, he arrived in the afternoon of Saturday on Naburn Street, Manchester.
Two people, later found to be Jama and Ogbeide-John, were both captured on CCTV with their faces covered arriving on Naburn Street and starting to interact with the victim. The victim, feeling scared and intimidated by the two males who greeted him, started to run whilst shouting for help.
The pair both caught up with him, before pushing him to the ground, placing their arms around his neck and rummaging through his pockets before stealing £130; the money he had brought with him to purchase the bikes.
Following this, the victim reported the offence to police and an investigation was quickly launched to establish what had happened and who the offenders were – shown clearly with face coverings on CCTV.
A few days later, on Sunday 29 December 2024, a second victim messaged a marketplace account named ‘Billz Jay’ as they wished to purchase a red mountain bike, advertised for £450. He arranged to meet the day after, on Monday 30 December 2024.
Jama approached the victim from behind and told him to follow him to a garage at the back of the address as that is where the bike was stored.
As Jama and the victim walked down an alleyway, CCTV shows Ogbeide-John get off a pushbike and run up behind the victim. Taking him by surprise, he assaulted the victim and placed his arms round the victim’s neck. Something sharp was pressed below the victim’s chin and he lost consciousness.
CCTV footage showed the whole incident and also showed Ogbeide-John looking through a wallet for cash.
The ambulance service was called after a passer-by noticed the victim with serious injuries unconscious in the alleyway between Naburn Street and Daisybank Road. After being taken to hospital, it was established that he had serious injuries. He suffered seven fractures to his jaw, which resulted in him needing six metal plates being inserted and full reconstructive surgery to his face.
From this incident, officers were able to identify a pattern of offending that suggested that the first and second incidents were linked and included the possibility that both were committed by the same individuals.
On Monday 20 January, a third victim listed an E-bike on Facebook Marketplace for £550 and noticed another seller ‘Jacob Verona’ selling a similar bike. The victim suggested they swap bikes along with £80 in cash.
The victim informed his father who agreed to come with him.
At around 7.40pm on Tuesday 21 January 2025, the victim and his father arrived at Kingfisher Close and they informed ‘Jacob Verona’ that they were there and waiting outside the agreed address.
One of the defendants messaged back saying “Can you make sure the bike is ready. As I am coming out in shorts.”
As the victim was getting the bike out of the car, Jama and Ogbeide-John walked past him, before carrying on walking and waiting on the corner. They are seen talking before the pair turn round and head straight for the victim and his father.
One of the males said, ‘Why are you up here’.
The victim, suspicious of the two, started to lie about why he was there, hoping they would not ask about the bike.
Ogbeide-John puts his hands on the handlebars of the victim’s bike saying ‘Give me the bike’ before saying ‘I’m taking the bike’ either ‘nicely or nastily’
The victim’s father attempted to protect his son by stating that the bike was his son’s property and Ogbeide-John replied saying ‘Do you want me to stab you?’. The victim, visibly scared, could see an outline of a shape that resembled a knife, and the victim signalled to his father to let the bike go to prevent them from getting hurt.
The officers were still investigating the previous two incidents and could confidently say that this was now a linked series.
Officers were locating and viewing hundreds of hours of CCTV footage from the area whilst appealing for members of the public to come forwards with any additional footage to assist in building a timeline of events leading up to these robberies.
On Friday 24 January, officers spotted a man walking past Longsight Police Station, and they believed he matched the description of Ogbeide-John, he was detained and arrested on suspicion of robbery.
Bilal was arrested two days later on Sunday 26th January after evidence seized from Ogbeide-John led officers to his identity. Both were charged with 4 counts of robbery each.
