Rapper who threatened Tommy Robinson jailed after ‘flamethrower’ rampage

Birmingham rapper Omar Abdirizak, earlier jailed over a threat to Tommy Robinson, sparked chaos in a city petrol station with a makeshift flamethrower in a shocking arson rampage.

A Birmingham rapper who burst into a city-centre petrol station with a makeshift ‘flamethrower’ and shouted “I’m a terrorist, I will kill you” has been jailed for nearly seven years.

Omar Abdirizak, 32, known in local music circles as Twista Cheese, blasted flames across the counter at Holloway Head Service Station using an aerosol can and lighter, before turning the device on a Tango Ice Blast machine and even the forecourt outside. A judge said he had risked “catastrophic consequences”.

Abdirizak, who has long-standing mental health difficulties, later rang 999 himself, telling police his name was “Satan” and claiming “Allah told me to do that”.

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He appeared at Birmingham Crown Court on Tuesday, November 18, where he admitted robbery and arson. Recorder Sunil Khanna imposed a six-year nine-month custodial sentence with an extended two-year licence period, after ruling the defendant was a dangerous offender.

“I’m a terrorist – I will kill you”

The court heard Abdirizak arrived at the petrol station at around 8.20pm on January 12. He initially offered to pay for an elderly customer’s shopping, but quickly became embroiled in a dispute after being told he needed to pay for cigarettes before receiving them.

Prosecutor Manizja Latifi said Abdirizak began shouting threats, including: “I’m a terrorist, I will kill you.” He added: “I will burn this shop and you also.”

There had also been a misunderstanding at the till, with Abdirizak apparently being charged for petrol he had not bought. CCTV showed him lifting the flame over the counter, then climbing through the service window into the staff area while the shop worker tried to retreat in the cramped space. Terrified and cornered, the worker eventually handed over cigarettes “just to get him to leave”, the court heard. Officers arrived ten minutes later to find the victim “visibly shaking and frightened”. Flames on the forecourt

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Ms Latifi said that after getting the cigarettes, Abdirizak turned his improvised device on the Tango Ice Blast machine, setting fire to the machine and the floor mat in front of it. He then walked onto the forecourt, still igniting flames, before briefly returning inside to burn the machine a second time. The spree caused almost £7,000 of damage. Just two months later, Abdirizak was jailed for 20 weeks for a threatening TikTok video he made about Tommy Robinson. PTSD, schizophrenia – and “genuine remorse” The court was told Abdirizak, of Long Street, Sparkbrook, suffers from PTSD linked to past experiences in Somalia, with an underlying diagnosis of schizophrenia. His barrister, Jasvir Mann, said the defendant’s mental health issues were worsened by cannabis misuse, adding that his behaviour that night was “impulsive and stupid” and “off the scale”. “There is genuine remorse,” he told the court, arguing Abdirizak was now more stable and able to reflect on his actions. Recorder Khanna was unmoved. He said an aerosol-and-lighter “flamethrower” was “just as terrifying” as a knife or gun, and noted that Abdirizak had expressed terrorist, misogynist and racist views to probation. “There was a risk of catastrophic consequences to other people by those flames in the forecourt,” he said, passing sentence.