January 2 2003. The senseless murders of two teenage girls thrusts a vicious West Midlands gang to national attention. The girls’ deaths are the culmination of the Burger Bar Boys’ long-simmering feud with rivals the Johnson Crew - one which threatens to engulf the city of Birmingham in an all-out gang war. But how did this hatred fester and grow and what were the decades long origins of this bloodshed in the city? In this podcast Livvy Haydock will unpick the complicated history of violence, telling a story that goes back to the post-war arrival of the Caribbean Windrush generation and the promises made that were often betrayed.

In the 1960s Enoch Powell delivered his incendiary Rivers of Blood speech in Birmingham which reflected the racial tension in the area at the time. Two decades later, in the mid 1980’s, the build-up of tension, alongside friction between the police and Black and Asian communities, led to the Handworth Riots, with parts of the city burning for two days.

In this opening episode you will hear from those who have lived through these decades, those who lost loved ones in the turmoil, those who fought for peace, and those who have been up close and personal with one of the most brutal gangs to have ever existed in the UK. This is the story of the rise and fall of the Burger Bar Boys…

Presenter – Livvy Haydock
Series Producer – Hayley Mortimer
Technical Producer – Nicky Edwards
Producer – Patrick Kiteley
Researcher – Megan Jones
Fixer in Jamaica – Nick Davies
Journalism Assistant – Tim Fernley
Archive Researcher – Nicola Han
Editor – Carl Johnston
Commissioning Executive – Louise Kattenhorn
Assistant Commissioner – Lorraine Okuefuna
Assistant Commissioner – Natasha Johansson Show less