Brothers' six killers are jailed

A GANG who murdered two brothers in a Muslim turf war were jailed for 138 years.

Mohammed, 24, and Hayder Ali, 25, were killed by a baying mob of up to 30 men armed with knives, machetes, baseball bats, shovels and even estate agents' placards.
Some thugs used their mobile phones to film the pair being beaten, kicked and stabbed to death, the Old Bailey heard.

The Pakistani brothers were friends of Hamad Bhatti, who had fallen out with rival Hassan Mir.
The murders were "the terrible endgame" to an ongoing feud between Muslim gangs in Tooting.

Older relatives tried to stop the hostilities but a full-scale gang war began on April 22, 2006.
After a seven-and-a-half-month trial Hassan Mir, 18, of no fixed address, and his friends Imran Ali, 20, of Wilson Avenue, Mitcham; Noor Kayani, 22, from Gatton Road, Tooting; Imran Hussain, 23, of Selkirk Road, Tooting; Aazam Butt, 20, of Arthur House, Halford Road, Fulham; and Usman Butt, 19, of no fixed address, were found guilty of two counts of murder.

Quadeer Khan, 23, of Garratt Lane, Wandsworth; Bilal Kayani, 20 and Shahzad Kayani, 19 both of Gatton Road, Tooting; and Omar Butt, 32, of Halford Road, Fulham, were cleared of murder on the judge's direction.

Their trial collapsed after the two of the main prosecution witnesses, brothers Favard and Javard Bhatti, spoke to the victims' father Shahid Ali over the phone during the trial.
Another suspect, Imran Aslam, is still wanted by the police and is believed to be in Pakistan.
It was one of the longest murder trials ever heard at the Old Bailey and has cost taxpayers £20million.

Sentencing the gang last Friday, Judge Christopher Moss QC, said: "On April 22 the normally peaceful area of Tooting became a battleground to the distress and fear of those who lived there.
"Two young men were killed, murdered by a mob which included all of you."
The jury, who deliberated for 40 hours and 32 minutes before reaching their verdicts, were granted exemption from jury service for the rest of their lives.

Hayder, a recruitment consultant who lived in Elborough Street, Southfields, was engaged and due to marry in November last year.
Mohammed, an IT sales manager of Tyneham Road, Battersea, was married to Sadia. She was pregnant with their second child.