Judge bans London rap gang from making violent drill music

Members must inform police before publishing new songs, under order thought to be first of kind

‘We’re not in the business of killing anyone’s fun, we’re not in the business of killing artistic expression. We are in the business of stopping people being killed’

A DRILL music gang have been banned from mentioning death or injury in their songs as a judge imposed a string of legal restrictions in an attempt to curb violent crime.

In what is believed to be the first order of its kind, a judge on Friday also ordered Yonas Girma, 21, Micah Bedeau, 19, Isaac Marshall, 18, Jordan Bedeau, 17, and Rhys Herbert, 17, to give police prior notice to any song they planned on publishing on social media or performing.

The gang members who are part of the 1011 group – based in Ladbroke Grove, west London – have had millions of views on Youtube.

Police have linked drill music – subgenre of rap that often features masked or hooded groups talking about hedonistic lifestyles and their relationships with guns, drugs and stabbings – with a rise in violent crime in the capital.

The orders state that, on social media and in music videos and performances, the men must not encourage violence, mention named postcodes in a gang context, or make reference to the death of Teewiz, the nickname of 19-year-old Abdullahi Tarabi, who was fatally stabbed in west London.

They must also notify police within 24 hours of releasing videos and give 48 hours warning of the date and location of any performance or recording and permit officers to attend.

Recorder Ann Mulligan, sitting at Kingston Crown Court, issued the three-year criminal behaviour orders, which were applied for by the Metropolitan Police’s Trident gang crime unit after the men were locked up for conspiracy to commit violent disorder.

Det Chief Sup Kevin Southworth, the head of Trident, said the criminal behaviour orders were necessary for the genre used “to goad, to incite, to provoke, to inflame” violence.

“We’re not in the business of killing anyone’s fun, we’re not in the business of killing anyone’s artistic expression. We are in the business of stopping people being killed,” he said.

“This isn’t about us straying into the area of regulation or censorship… but the public rightly expect us to take action in a case such as this, where a line has very clearly been crossed and the safety of individuals is put at risk.”

Jodie Ginsberg, the chief executive of Index on Censorship, criticised the move. “This isn’t going to address the issues that lead to the creation of this kind of music, nor should we be creating a precedent in which certain forms of art which include violent images or ideas are banned,” she said.

After an investigation into their music and social media accounts, the gang members were arrested on Nov 9 in Colville Square, Notting Hill, while armed with four large machetes, baseball bats, masks, balaclavas and gloves.

The defendants said they were about to make a music video, but police suspected they were planning to attack 12 World, a rival group.

They admitted the lesser charge having denied conspiracy to commit grievous bodily harm with intent.

Girma, of Hounslow Road, Hanworth; Marshall, of Ladbroke Grove; Herbert, of Lonsdale Road, Notting Hill; and brothers Jordan and Micah Bedeau, of Colville Square, are serving jail or detention sentences for between 10 months and three and a half years.