Mohamed Aslam (left) and Mohammed Nazir (right) were jailed today for conspiracy to murder (Pictures: West Midlands Police)
A father and son who ‘hired’ a hitwoman to kill a clothing shop owner after they fell out have been jailed.
Mohammed Nazir, 30, and his father Mohammed Aslam, 56, ordered American assassin Aimee Betro to shoot Sikander Ali in Birmingham in 2019, the city’s crown court was told.
Jurors heard Betro, originally from Wisconsin, wore a hijab as a disguise for the hit outside the home of Mr Ali’s father in Acocks Green. But the attempt failed when her gun jammed.
Nazir and Aslam were convicted of conspiracy to murder earlier this year. Nazir was jailed for 32 years, while Aslam was ordered to serve 10 years in prison.
Betro was said to have fled back to the US the day after the botched execution but was linked to the pair.
She is currently in custody in Armenia facing extradition proceedings to the UK after being tracked down to her hideout in the Vanahovit district of Proshyan village, on the north-western fringes of the capital Yerevan.
Betro is said to have met Nazir, who allegedly fell out with Mr Ali and his father following a dispute, in a hotel before the attempt on his life.
Mohammed Nazir, 30, and his father Mohammed Aslam, 56, were said to have ordered American ‘assassin’ Aimee Betro to shoot Sikander Ali (Picture: Facebook)
Recalling the failed hit, Mr Ali said he pulled up and noticed a Mercedes parked in a ‘stupid’ place and described someone in a hijab getting out and aiming a gun at him.
‘As I turned and looked, I saw the driver’s door was already open and the person was moving towards me,’ he said in a statement.
‘I could see this person had a gun in their hand. I felt scared.
‘The person moved their arm towards me and pointed directly at me.
‘I panicked at this point. I immediately got back into the car and slammed the door shut.’
Betro was said to have returned to the house hours later in a taxi and fired three shots through the windows, but nobody was hurt.
Mr Ali’s father received texts that read: ‘Where are you hiding?’ and ‘Stop playing hide and seek, you are lucky it jammed’.
Following Betro’s arrest, the Police of the Republic of Armenia confirmed the 44-year-old suspect was wanted by law enforcement agencies in the UK on charges of conspiracy to commit murder and illegal possession of a firearm.
Hannah Sidaway of the Crown Prosecution Service said: ‘This was a methodical and well-planned attack against the victim’s family, where the offenders tried to cover their tracks by using a third party and burner devices to avoid detection.
‘In the plan to discharge a loaded firearm, their intention to kill was clear. This was a complex investigation involving collaboration between West Midlands and Derbyshire Police, the Crown Prosecution Service and the US authorities. It involved obtaining evidential material from the US including forensic samples to link the offenders with evidence from the crime scenes.
‘These convictions …read more
Source:: Metro
