The gang that brought terror to the streets of Rochdale

‘country’. One of the mob, Mohammed Awais Sajid, known as ‘Skinny’, came armed with an axe as others were wielding knives, machetes, a clawhammer and a knuckle duster.

The violent act was one of retribution; Rahman, who was manager of his family’s restaurant the Baytree in Blackley, had ‘taken offence’ at the driving of an elderly woman on nearby Church Road, shouting abuse at her before Cameron and others attempted to bravely intervene.

A judge said Rahman made it clear that he had been ‘disrespected’ on his ‘territory’ and decided to enact ‘swift retribution’, with the victims tracked down to the property they were working on nearby and confronted by the mob, that rapidly grew in number.

Cameron was struck by an axe in the armpit, and then on the wrist as he tried to shield his head from another blow.

Investigations by Greater Manchester Police later revealed that the main suspects in the attack were members of the notorious Adam OCG. The horrific scenes of violence and terror were a catalyst for detectives, who launched an operation aimed at dismantling the whole gang.

The force described the group as Rochdale’s most significant and violent drug gang, with the case passed over to Detective Sergeant Martin Soutter and a team of specialist officers. They uncovered a sophisticated criminal network involved in major drug dealing, widespread grooming of children to deal drugs, witness intimidation and suspected money laundering.

Detectives had already been tracking the gang for almost a decade prior to the heinous attack –