Two men jailed over Grindr robbery scheme targeting gay men in London
Investigators said the men used Grindr to initiate contact, arranging meetings at victims’s homes
By Callum Wells
Two men who used Grindr to gain access to victims’s homes have been jailed for a combined eight-and-a-half years following a series of burglaries and frauds across London.
Rahmat Khan Mohammadi, 22, and Mohammed Bilal Hotak, 21, were sentenced at Isleworth Crown Court after being found guilty of burglary, fraud and theft. The convictions were returned on November 4, according to a Metropolitan Police update issued on December 22.
The pair were part of a wider organised group operating between October 2024 and March 2025. During that period, 22 people were targeted, with police linking the network to 35 burglaries and 20 fraud offences.
Prosecutor David Patience said the way victims were selected meant the offences could be treated as hate crimes
Investigators said the men used Grindr to initiate contact, arranging meetings at victims’s homes. Their accounts generally did not display profile photos and, when challenged, they sent images that were not of themselves.
After being invited inside, the men persuaded victims to unlock their phones and disclose passcodes, claiming they wanted to play music on YouTube. Police said they then created distractions – including asking victims to shower before sex, requesting to use the bathroom or preparing drinks – before leaving with phones and other valuables, including passports, watches and wallets.
Stolen data was later used to move money between accounts, withdraw cash and make payments.
Prosecutor David Patience said the way victims were selected meant the offences could be treated as hate crimes.
“I suspect you were… banking on the victims not reporting the crime” – judge Adenike Balogun, sentencing the pair
“They did not target women, heterosexual men — they targeted gay men,” he told the court. “They thought they would be easier to commit offenses against.”
Sentencing the pair, Judge Adenike Balogun said: “I have taken note of the psychological trauma as well as the inconvenience caused to the victims, and the distress that all of them have expressed at allowing you into their homes — into their private spaces — only to be violated.”
Balogun said the victims had been chosen “because of their perceived vulnerability,” but added that the crimes were not motivated by “hostility.” Instead, she said Grindr was used because it offered “an opportunity to gain easy access into the homes of victims.”
“I suspect you were… banking on the victims not reporting the crime,” she added.
“More must be done to ensure minoritised victims of crime have meaningful access to safety and criminal justice” – GALOP’s co-chief executive
Mohammadi was sentenced to five years in prison. Hotak received a three-and-a-half year sentence.
The Metropolitan Police said it worked with its LGBT+ Advisory Group and anti-LGBTQ+ abuse charity GALOP while handling the investigation, following a 2023 review that criticised the force for institutional misogyny, racism and homophobia. The Met said this collaboration ensured “we were able to conduct our work with sensitivity and care.”
GALOP’s co-chief executive said in a statement to the BBC: “We know Grindr is used by many LGBT+ people not only for dating, but also for community, connection, and mutual support — particularly for people who may feel otherwise isolated. Learning about the harmful and calculated manipulation of Grindr to target LGBT+ people is likely to have a real impact on our whole community’s sense of safety. More must be done to ensure minoritised victims of crime have meaningful access to safety and criminal justice.”
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