ROBBERS who bullied, blackmailed and assaulted their victims at a party near Lutterworth and then posted the footage on social media have been convicted.
In the early hours of November 21 last year, police received a report that several men had attended an open party in North Kilworth which had been advertised on Snapchat.
Shortly after arriving, the group – led by Richile Vangu, 20 – began threatening attendees with a knife, demanding they hand over designer clothing and forcing them to transfer money.
Trying to exert control over them, Vangu even forced some of the victims to dance for him, which another man filmed on a mobile phone.
When some victims told Vangu they could not each transfer £1,000 – the sum he initially demanded – they were told to go to an address in Bath Lane later the same day to pay.
That afternoon, some of those who had been at the party went to Bath Lane to transfer money.
Vangu fired a BB gun at them and repeatedly whipped one of the victims with a belt. Some of the group were also punched repeatedly.
This was also filmed by one of the group and uploaded to social media.
When a woman inside the address told Vangu police were en-route, Vangu and his associates ran from the property before officers arrived.
During the investigation, officers were told that Vangu was known on TikTok as ‘Trixta’ and, following further enquiries, he was arrested at an address in London on November 27.
During the ongoing investigation, officers found those who had been with him were Oluwatobiloba Akinrinola, and two others who were then arrested in December.
Last week, following a trial at Leicester Crown Court, two men were found guilty of their crimes.
Vangu, of Southgate, London, was found guilty of all 15 counts he was indicted for – four counts of robbery relating to the events in North Kilworth; six counts of blackmail at the same location; four counts of blackmail at the events in Bath Lane; and one count of actual bodily harm (ABH) on a victim in Bath Lane.
He pleaded guilty to ABH on a second victim in Bath Lane at a previous hearing.
Akinrinola, of Southwark, London, was found guilty of six counts of blackmail at the North Kilworth event and three counts of the same charge at Bath Lane; four counts of robbery in North Kilworth; and two counts of ABH on two victims in Bath Lane.
He has been found not guilty of one count of blackmail.
The pair are due to be sentenced at the same court on Monday July 27.
