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April 22, 2006

UK: Muslim Prison Gang Attack "Apostate"

Once more, the notorious group calling itself the Muslim Boys have made the news this week. Belmarsh prison is a maximum security prison based in southeast London, which houses many Muslims suspected of terrorism offences. It is home to convicted Islamists, such as Abu Hamza. It also has a hardened Category A prison population. AMong these are a group of black street-gang members who claim to be Muslim, and also claim allegiance to Al Qaeda. These call themselves the Muslim Boys.

According to the Guardian, the Muslim Boys are members of various black crime gangs in south London. These include gangs with names such as Peelden, the Stockwell Crew, the SMS (South Man Syndicate) and PDC (Poverty Driven Children). There are about 50 to 100 members calling themselves Muslim Boys, from Brixton, Peckham, Lambeth, and Streatham. They are notorious for shootings and thefts.

In September last year, we described the activities of the gang, who used guns to commit thefts, and then would arrive at mosques late at night, and force them to open, so the criminals could "pray".

The Muslim Boys were mentioned because they had targeted a young black man, Adrian Marriott, to become a convert to Islam. He did not become a convert, and was shot five times in the head. His body was then dumped in parkland off Barrington Road in Brixton, south London.

In January we reported on the inquest into Adrian's death. His mother told the inquest that she had heard the shots which had killed her son, but only heard later that Adrian was involved. She said: "Adrian was told on the Sunday prior to his death that he would be killed if he did not become a Muslim by the Wednesday, which was the day he died." He was killed only a few weeks before his 21st birthday. The killers have not been charged.

According to the Daily Mirror, the most recent incident involving the gang involved eight individuals, who pounced on a man in the toilets. The man had been a member of the gang, but had wanted to leave the group. As a result, he was "punished" receiving a severe beating, and injuries to his head. The attack happened on Good Friday (April 14). Officers had to intervene.

As a result of this attack, the latest in a series of violent attacks carried out by the gang, four prisoners from the gang are receiving "administrative action" by the prison authorities. Two leaders were transferred to other jails. Many members have been sent to a segregation unit within the prison.

The Home Office said the Good Friday attack had not been a major incident. The Mirror states that a leaked prison report has claimed the members of the Muslim Boys were recruiting for Al Qaeda within the jail. Other prisoners claim to be in fear of their lives after the gang attacked victims with razor blades attached to toothbrushes (called shanks).

The claims of Al Qaeda involvement appear to be bravado, but the gang members have terrorised prisoners and civilians alike. After Adrian Marriott was killed, the chairman of Brixton mosque, Abdul Haqq Baker, (a convert) described the gang's activities: "What we are seeing is a new phenomenon that I have not seen in my 15 years as a Muslim."

According to Detective Chief Superintendent John Coles, who heads Operation Trident, the Scotland Yard unit that targets gun crime in the black community, about 20 "hardcore" members of the group have been imprisoned, there are about 20 still on the streets, and many more hangers-on.

Coles believes the Muslim Boys are responsible for several murders, attempted murders, and a series of robberies in the past few months leading up to March. The gang's most lucrative thefts come from robbing local drug dealers.

Posted by Giraldus Cambrensis at April 22, 2006 8:30 PM

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