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Solihull Father and Son Face Jail After Violent Small Heath Family Assault and son are awaiting sentencing after a violent home invasion in Small Heath that left a relative unconscious and fearing for his life.
The Trigger of the Conflict
The brutal confrontation at a property in Small Heath was the culmination of a long-standing and bitter disagreement involving inheritance, property rights, and financial assets within the family. Tensions reached a breaking point on August 25, 2023, after the victim returned from a trip to Dubai. Upon his arrival, he discovered that a few hundred dollars had been taken from beneath his pillow and that his nephew, 22-year-old Mohammed Roshan Arif, had stayed at the address against a strict family agreement. When the victim sent a text message to his brother-in-law, 51-year-old Mohammed Karim, regarding the missing money, the situation escalated into immediate violence.
A Brutal Home Invasion
Within thirty minutes of the text being sent, Karim arrived at the Small Heath residence, where the victim lived as the primary carer for his frail, elderly mother. Witnesses and evidence presented at Birmingham Crown Court described Karim bursting into the home "like a raging bull." The victim was subjected to a sustained physical assault involving repeated punches and kicks to his head, chest, and stomach. As the victim curled into a ball to protect himself, his nephew, Arif, joined the attack. Arif placed his uncle in a restrictive chokehold, tilting his head back and cutting off his airway. The victim later testified that the sensation of being unable to breathe made him believe he was dying in front of his mother, who watched the incident from her sofa.
The Legal Verdict and Next Steps
Following a detailed trial that utilized both external CCTV and a harrowing audio recording of the struggle captured by the victim’s phone, a jury at Birmingham Crown Court delivered their verdicts. Mohammed Karim was found guilty of assault occasioning actual bodily harm. His son, Mohammed Roshan Arif, was convicted of both actual bodily harm and the more serious charge of non-fatal strangulation. Two other family members, Sourton Nessa and Mohammed Rashid, were acquitted after the jury accepted their claims of acting as peacekeepers. The focus now shifts to the sentencing hearing scheduled for April 24, where both men face significant custodial sentences. Local authorities and community analysts suggest this case highlights the extreme risks of internal family litigation over UK-based assets and overseas financial interests.
