The war of words between ‘Crashbandit’ and ‘R1’ came against the background of an ongoing dispute between two gangs
Police at the scene at Al-Rahma Mosque in Toxteth(Image: Liverpool Echo)
A war of words between two drill rappers on YouTube led to scenes of terror at a place of worship. Chris Beya, aka “Crashbandit” traded figurative shots online with Rashan Hamilton, known as “R1”, before ambushing him with an imitation firearm.
The terrifying assault came as the victim left a mosque following afternoon prayers. Their dispute is said to have formed part of a wider rivalry between the “Lodge Lane” and “Berkley Crew” gangs of L8, with the two men having links to a spate of cruel street robberies and even murder cases.
Liverpool Crown Court heard this week that the incident in November last year came against a background of “ongoing tensions” between the “Lodge Lane and Berkley Crew organised crime groups” in the Toxteth area. Beya and Hamilton were described as opposing members of the rival gangs, with the former having uploaded a series of drill videos to YouTube under his Crashbandit alias, in which he referenced “gang violence and gun crimes” in Merseyside and the “ongoing dispute between the two groups”, from July 2024 onwards.
Nardeen Nemat, prosecuting detailed how both men would use each other’s monikers in diss tracks which they posted to social media. In one, entitled “Shh”, the 23-year-old defendant “made references to gang rivalries and the criminal use of firearms”, with his lyrics including: “R1 got run off the block, same way he got run out of Birmingham too”.
Chris Beya(Image: Merseyside Police)
Another video, “Toxteth L8”, uploaded by Beya on October 24, meanwhile “referenced the criminal use of firearms, drug dealing and gang rivalry”, as well as “Crash L8 B block”. On November 18, Hamilton returned fire in a track which he uploaded to Instagram, directly referencing his rival’s video from the previous month by rapping: “I don’t know why they call him Crash, ‘cos he ain’t ever crashed no s***.”
Four days later, in the early afternoon of November 22, Beya and a second, unidentified assailant were captured on CCTV footage taking their bikes on an approximately four-minute ride from Back Falkner Street South to the vicinity of Al-Rahma Mosque on Mulgrave Street. Hamilton was inside the place of worship at this time, having attended lunchtime prayers with a friend.
Shortly before 2pm, Beya and the unknown male were again captured on camera emerging from Northbrook Close and cycling onto Mulgrave Street. When Hamilton and his friend left the mosque three minutes later, his masked attacker dismounted his bike and produced “an object that was described by a witness as having the appearance of a black pistol” and pointed it towards his victim.
Police at the scene at Al-Rahma Mosque in Toxteth(Image: Liverpool Echo)
Hamilton responded by running into the mosque while being pursued by Beya, who stopped at the entrance and hurled a homophobic slur towards the other man before aiming the weapon into the place of worship. He thereafter ran back to his bike and cycled away with his accomplice to his then home on Grove Street.
The “pistol” in question was never recovered by the police. Beya had turned his phone off around the time of the incident, with its next usage coming at 6.48pm, when his mum texted him: “Ye mates picked the bike up.”
Members of the mosque recalled feeling “scared and extremely worried” as the episode unfolded in front of their eyes, with approximately 4,000 worshippers routinely attending for prayers on a Friday. Hamilton, who “did not support the prosecution”, was previously linked to not one but two murder cases around the turn of the decade.
The ECHO previously reported in 2020 that “little was known” about the then 20-year-old, who was said to have been originally from Birmingham and lived in Toxteth but based in the Crewe area as of five years ago. It came after he had fled the scene of a party in Dingle alongside killer Trene Colecozy-Rogers, moments after the then 17-year-old had fatally stabbed his friend Dre Estridge in the heart.
Less than a year earlier, Hamilton’s name had also been referenced during the trial over the murder of Bala Lloyd-Evans. His killers, Ramal Edwards and Kieran Perry, were said to have been the older brother of a 14-year-old boy who suffered life-threatening injuries after being stabbed in the back on Seaport Street.
Hamilton was reportedly suspected of being involved in this brutal knife attack. However, he was not charged with any offences in relation to either of the two cases.
Beya, of Gwendoline Street, meanwhile has one previous conviction for three offences, relating to a string of robberies in 2019 and 2020. He was initially handed a 20-month imprisonment suspended for 20 months before being locked up for 16 months for a breach of this order in December 2022, having targeted teenagers aged as young as 13 in Liverpool city centre and threatened a 17-year-old knifepoint before stealing the £130 pair of trainers which he had purchased from a shop moments earlier.
Appearing in court via video link to HMP Liverpool, he was jailed for three years by Judge Robert Trevor Jones on Thursday after pleading guilty to possession of an imitation firearm with intent to cause fear of violence. Merseyside Police’s Detective Inspector John Mullen told the ECHO following the hearing: “This was a serious offence that caused a lot of concern in the community at the time.
“Following a thorough investigation, we were able to provide enough evidence that Beya had no choice but to admit he was the man involved. We take all reports concerning firearms extremely seriously, and I hope the sentencing of Beya offers reassurance that we are relentless in our pursuit of those involved in gun crime.
“To the untrained eye, an imitation firearm can cause fear and harm to people who wouldn’t know the difference between them or a more dangerous weapon if confronted with one. We rely on information given to us by the public, and this makes a huge difference in identifying suspects, seizing weapons and removing suspects who would bring weapons onto our streets.
“It is vital that members of our communities come forward with information so we can make our communities safer for the decent, law-abiding people who live in areas affected by gun crime. Where people are willing to support the police, we will ensure every possible avenue is progressed to them.”