Luke Hazell, 38, has been sentenced to 16 years in prison with an additional five-year licence following a horrific kidnap and blackmail scheme in Birmingham. The victim was abducted from Lozells, held captive for five days, and subjected to brutal torture including beatings with weapons, burns from boiling water, and having the tip of a finger severed.
A probation report revealed that Hazell once associated with the Burger Bar Boys, a notorious Handsworth gang linked to decades of drug violence and fatalities in Birmingham. As a juvenile, Hazell was already involved in serious crime. At age 20, he participated in an aggravated burglary where he threatened a victim with a knife and used CS gas on others, resulting in a five-year sentence at a young offenders institution.
At 23, Hazell was jailed for eight years for firearm possession. Then, in January 2012, he played a key role in one of the UK’s most infamous crimes—the prison van break-out of John Anslow. Anslow was being transported from HMP Hewell to Stafford Crown Court when a masked group in a Volkswagen Scirocco rammed the secure van in Worcestershire. They used sledgehammers to smash the windows and freed Anslow, who fled for over a year, becoming Britain’s most wanted man until his arrest in Cyprus.
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Hazell was convicted of conspiracy to assist in Anslow’s escape and served four years. Over his criminal career, he accumulated 11 convictions for 35 offences before the 2023 kidnapping. For the recent abduction, Hazell meticulously planned the attack, recruiting at least four accomplices and using a cousin to secure a flat in Edgbaston to hold the victim.
The kidnapping occurred on January 21, 2023, on Anglesey Street, Lozells. The kidnappers demanded up to £3 million in ransom, torturing the man for days before abandoning him naked in Winson Green. Hazell was found guilty of conspiracy to kidnap, false imprisonment, blackmail, and causing grievous bodily harm with intent.
Despite his extensive criminal record, Hazell’s barrister claimed he had no violent history and downplayed his gang connections, describing him as a drug dealer rather than a gang or organized crime member. However, Judge Kerry Maylin deemed Hazell “dangerous,” ordering an extended licence to protect the public and citing the high likelihood of further serious offenses.
Hazell’s criminal trajectory—from gang affiliations and violent burglaries to one of the UK’s most audacious prison breaks and a savage kidnap plot—paints a stark picture of ongoing menace.