Trio jailed over drug dealer shooting in daylight

Basildon Crown Court heard how the defendants lured a fellow drug dealer to a flat before trying to shoot him

Two drug dealers have each been jailed for 27 years after luring a rival to a client's flat and shooting him through his car in "broad daylight".

Amir Mahamud, 27, of Garfield Road, Enfield, north London, and Hamidreza Nasiri, 31, of Holbrook Close, Enfield, denied attempted murder during a trial at Basildon Crown Court but were convicted on 6 October.

The jury heard the pair were accused of attempting to kill the man in Waltham Abbey, Essex, on the afternoon of 24 November last year, and had fired three shots at him, one of which went through his thigh.

Another defendant, Margit Knap, 41, was jailed for five years for assisting in the commission of an offence involving serious violence.

During sentencing, judge Samantha Leigh told the defendants the "clear motive" in the case was drug dealing, and "this was a hit on another drug dealer".

She said it happened in "broad daylight on a Sunday afternoon, with members of public around" and that the gun used in the shooting had never been recovered.

The court previously heard how Knap, of Howard Close, Waltham Abbey, had lured the man to her flat after she contacted him.

Within a minute of entering the building, "he was ambushed by three men" waiting in Ms Knap's flat, who then chased him out of the building, the prosecution said.

The jury was told that the man ran to his car nearby and got in when they followed him, firing three shots towards him, with one hitting him in the left thigh.

The court heard two of the men were Mahamud and Nasiri, while a third man remained unidentified.

The incident happened in Howard Close, Waltham Abbey, in November

Both men were convicted and sentenced for the following:

• Attempted murder - both 27 years

• Possession of a prohibited firearm - both 5 years

• Being concerned in the supply of cocaine - Nasiri 3 years, Mahamud 4.5 years

• Being concerned in the supply of cocaine - Nasiri 6 months, Mahamud 1 year

All the sentences will run concurrently.

The three defendants were in court for the sentencing, with Knap becoming very emotional when the judge jailed her for five years.

"I accept she was a drug user at the time of the offence, but I do not agree she was a pawn," Judge Leigh told the court.

"She knew full well there were three of them there. There was significant planning of the way he was lured there."