Innocent gang shooting victim recalls night of terror that left her sister dead

02 November 2023 , 13:41

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Twins Sophie and Charlene at school (Image: BPM MEDIA)

A woman who survived a gangland shooting in Birmingham that left her twin sister dead has spoken out about her tragic loss 20 years on.

Sophie Ellis has revealed her pain over the tragic death of her sister Charlene at the hands of the Burger Bar Boys gang in a podcast and revealed the ongoing abuse her family receives more than two decades on. 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 - Charlene Ellis, 18, and Letisha Shakespeare, 17 - who were simply in the wrong place at the wrong time. Four of those responsible for were jailed for life in what was one of Britain's most notorious slayings - but the teens' families believe more remain at large.

Sophie Ellis, Charlene's twin sister, was also caught in crossfire but luckily survived (ITV)

Sophie, who was also injured in the crossfire, shared her ongoing pain after losing her beloved sister that horrifying night. She told the podcast: "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."

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Cheryl Shaw, then 17, twins Charlene Ellis and Sophie Ellis, then 18, with Latisha Shakespeare, then 17 (PA)

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, Birmingham Live reports. 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 and Letisha Shakespeare were tragically killed in the machine gun shooting outside a New Year party, in Aston, on January 2, 2003.

Some hooded members of the Burger Bar Boys gang (News Team International)

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.

Left to right: Marcus Ellis, Michael Gregory, Nathan Martin and Rodrigo Simms were all found guilty of murder (BPM MEDIA)

"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 Friday, November 3.

Kelly-Ann Mills