Sophie Ellis has revealed her pain over the tragic death of her sister at the hands of the Burger Bar Boys gang in a new podcast. The Burger Bar Boys were a deadly gang hailing from Handsworth and Winson Green areas, their criminal blight on Birmingham only heightened by their feud with the Johnson Crew.
Their intense rivalry led to the deaths of two teenage girls 20 years ago. Alleged members of the Burger Bar Boys shot Charlene Ellis, 18, and Letisha Shakespeare, 17 who were simply in the wrong place at the wrong time.
Now the twin sister of Charlene, Sophie Ellis, who was also injured in the crossfire, shares her ongoing pain after losing her beloved sister that horrifying night. As the daughter of the founding member of The Johnsons, Arthur ‘Super D’ Ellis, she also reveals the ongoing abuse her family receives 20 years on.
Read more: Palestine protesters throw box full of spray painted mice into McDonald’s in Birmingham
POLL: Should XL Bully dogs be banned?
BBC Radio 5 Live podcast, Gangster: The Burger Bar Boys, will be released on November 3. In an extract from Sophie’s interview, she said: “I saw the gun outside the window. Before you knew it, I found myself to the ground.
“I knew that I was shot because I was in agony. People were screaming and running around and it was horrific.
“I thought it was just me at the time. The choices that they made that night, obviously I’m a living consequence of that. I woke up one day and then lost my life. I lost my twin sister. My life has never been the same.
“I had to learn to walk again because I was in bed for so long, I lost a lot of blood. So it really was a journey. It’s life changing, I still suffer with those injuries today.
“Some of them are lifelong injuries. I am grateful that I’m still here, but nothing can replace the fact that my twin sister is not here. So it’s life changing, very detrimental.”
The Burger Bar Boys and Johnson Crew formed in the 1980s following Birmingham’s Handsworth race riots. Word on the street claimed the groups started with “good intentions” to combat far right-wing racism.
They then devolved into the drug-running, machine-gun happy killers of the 1990s. Both gangs allegedly named themselves after their regular meeting spots, the Burger Bar on Soho Road and Johnson’s café on Heathfield Road in Lozells.
Marcus Ellis, Nathan Martin, Michael Gregory and Rodrigo Simms were allegedly members of the Burger Bar Boys, they intended to shoot members of the Johnson Crew. But friends Charlene Ellis, 18, and Letisha Shakespeare, 17, were tragically killed in the machine gun shooting outside a New Year party, in Aston, on January 2, 2003.
Four men were later jailed for life over the murders. Sophie remembers the shooting aftermath saying: “When they got convicted, I remember my car being smashed. Windows being smashed.
“We had to press the panic alarm for the police to come, because obviously they knew where we lived at the time. And then there’s been times when I’ve been in church and people are making comments like, oh, that’s the girl that got my people.
“Like I’m the one that pulled the trigger. I think they should just continue to do their time and stop wasting our time.
“We’re trying to live and do the best that we can do to try and move forward. But they keep trying to appeal and it’s never going to happen.”
Episodes one and two of Gangster: The Burger Bar Boys, hosted by BBC journalist Livvy Haydock, is available on BBC Sounds from November 3.
Read more about the Burger Bar Boys led to Birmingham being named the ‘gun and gang capital’
William Turner is a seasoned U.K. correspondent with a deep understanding of domestic affairs. With a passion for British politics and culture, he provides insightful analysis and comprehensive coverage of events within the United Kingdom.
