Gangster - The Story of the Burger Bar Boys

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Gangster

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The boxer turned bouncer who was gunned down on Tyneside in 1993

Viv Graham ran a pub and club protection empire which spanned Newcastle and beyond.

How did he build his fearsome reputation, and what led to his brutal, unsolved murder?

A new series of Gangster tells the story of Viv Graham, a man who ran a protection empire which spanned Newcastle and beyond.

Viv Graham, a 17-stone man mountain, a man feared and revered in equal measure, came to dominate Tyneside’s nightlife through brutal and uncompromising violence.

His murder, in an organised hit on New Year’s Eve 1993, sparked recriminations and repercussions which echo to this day. It remains one of the country’s most notorious unsolved murders.

The Story of the Burger Bar Boys

Gangster: The Story of the Burger Bar Boys: The Burger Bar Boys: 6. Breaking Bad

Introducing Gangster: The Story of The Burger Boys

The Burger Bar Boys: 6. Breaking Bad

BBC Radio 5 Live - Gangster, The Story of the Burger Bar Boys, The Burger Bar Boys: 6. Breaking Bad

The finale explores undercover police efforts to infiltrate the Burger Bar Boys.

The finale explores an undercover police officers efforts to infiltrate and dismantle the Burger Bar Boys’ operation and concludes with a look at the current state in Birmingham.

Despite the landmark trial of 2004-05 leading to several convictions for the murder of Charlene and Letisha - the gang murders in the city continued. What more could be done to tackle the violence?

In the final episode in the series, we look at how a combination of one man’s brilliant gang mediation and West Midlands police’s Operation Ventara slowly started to turn the tide and begin the process of restoring peace to the city of Birmingham. At the same time as the police were making inroads into dismantling the Burger Bar Boys’ operation in the city, the gang’s ambitions had begun to stretch to neighbouring cities –
even as far as Aberdeen. The absence of crack cocaine and lack of rivals in other cities made spreading their net wider an easy task, but law enforcement continued to fight back.

We’ll hear from an undercover police officer who was sent into Northampton to join the city’s Burger Bar Boys offshoot there, and how developments in ballistics allowed police to trace the movement of guns like the MAC-10 as they were passed around the country from one gang member to another.

We conclude the series by looking at where things stand now in the city. What became of the convicted gang members, and how the Burger Bar Boys name still echoes around the streets of Handsworth to this day. We will hear how the families who lost loved ones feel as they reflect on the events of the last few decades, and how back in the Burgers’ home territory of Handsworth, there is at last some optimism.

New episodes are released on Fridays. If you’re in the UK, listen to Gangster: The Burger Bar Boys first on BBC Sounds. bbc.in/40W5Chz

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

Gangster: The Story of the Burger Bar Boys

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Birmingham's notorious Burger Bar Boys - a gang born out of the Handsworth riots.

The story of Birmingham's notorious Burger Bar Boys - a gang born out of the Handsworth riots in 1985.

A brand new series of Gangster tells the story of Birmingham's notorious Burger Bar Boys - a gang born out of the Handsworth riots in 1985.

Named after the fast food joint where they met, they were described as more ruthless than the Jamaican Yardies. They fought a bitter and bloody war with their rivals the Johnson Crew for control of the crack cocaine trade in the West Midlands. They controlled their turf in the suburb of Handsworth with threats, intimidation and sub machine guns. But when they killed two innocent girls in a drive-by shooting, they were brought down by their own community and a team of fearless detectives determined to stem the body count.        

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

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