Two men identified by police as members of what has been described as “London’s most prolific Grindr gang” have been jailed for a combined total of eight and a half years. The pair used the gay dating app to target victims across the capital, stealing personal items and committing fraud over a six month period.
Rahmad Khan Mohammadi, 23, and Mohammed Bilal Hotak, 21, carried out 35 burglaries and 20 linked fraud offences, according to the Metropolitan Police. Phones, passports and wallets were taken, with losses totalling £68,000. In one case, a victim was left hospitalised with stress after loans and overdrafts were taken out in their name.
Sentencing at Isleworth Crown Court on Monday, Judge Adenike Bologun said the men relied on victims “being too embarrassed to report the crime”. However, she said she was not persuaded that the offences showed hostility towards the victims based on sexual orientation, stating that “this was an opportunistic offence.”
The court heard that Mohammadi, from Harrow, and Hotak, from Hackney, both Afghan nationals, gained access to victims’ homes by arranging meetings through the dating app. Once inside, they distracted the men and persuaded them to unlock their phones, often under the pretence of playing music. On some occasions, victims were asked to take a shower before sex, allowing the offenders to leave with phones or other valuables.
Stolen devices were then used to make purchases or access stored debit and credit cards. In one instance, a victim’s bank account was accessed and money transferred directly.
Prosecutor David Patience read victim impact statements to the court describing significant emotional and financial harm. One victim said his “vulnerability was used against me, because of my sexuality and body size”. Another said: “I was manipulated and led into a park late at night, my phone was taken from me, I was humiliated and unable to protect myself.” Further statements described hospitalisation due to stress and the disruption of studies and finances.
The Metropolitan Police said the men targeted several victims each week, repeatedly setting up new profiles. Sometimes they entered homes together. On other occasions, one would go inside while the other waited outside as a getaway driver. Officers referred to the pair as part of “London’s most prolific Grindr gang”.
Mr Patience told the court the men held “contemptuous ill will” towards their victims because of their sexuality and use of the app. “They did not target women, heterosexual men – they targeted gay men. They thought they would be easier to commit offences against,” he said.
Hotak’s barrister, John Kearney, rejected claims of hostility towards the gay community and said “the victims will have learned a lesson”. He added: “Women would not have been as foolish and reckless to place themselves in a position of vulnerability with strange men coming into their home.”
Representing Mohammadi, Nathan Toms said his client fled Afghanistan after being stabbed at the age of 15 by his then girlfriend’s brother. “His own family forced him to flee,” he said. “His father was going to murder him because he was linked to the government and he believed it would ‘reset relations’ with his employer. He arrived in this country via a lorry.”
The Met said the case prompted closer work with charities to address the LGBT+ community’s “lack of faith in policing”, following a report that found the force to be institutionally homophobic. Superintendent Owen Renowden said the investigation had highlighted how coordinated dating app offending could be.
“Prior to this investigation, there was a recognition that the use of apps to commit offending was there, but until we opened up our worldview, I didn’t realise the coordination and the use of Grindr as an app in that way to facilitate offending,” he said. “I didn’t know it was quite as prevalent in that respect.”
Detective Inspector Mark Gavin said officers were surprised by “how easily they could use the app to move around the victims”. He added that reporting increased as confidence grew that cases would be taken seriously.
Jasmine O’Connor of LGBT+ abuse charity Galop said Grindr is widely used not only for dating but also for community and support. “Learning about the harmful and calculated manipulation of Grindr to target LGBT+ people is likely to have a real impact on our whole community’s sense of safety,” she said. “More must be done to ensure minoritised victims of crime have meaningful access to safety and criminal justice.”
Mohammadi was sentenced to five years in prison. Hotak received a sentence of three and a half years.
