Birmingham shooting: Girlfriend booked Airbnb for killer

Harras Khan must serve at least 29 years for murder

A mother-of-two who booked an Airbnb for her fugitive boyfriend after a fatal shooting has been jailed.

Sonia Ashraf also hired a Mercedes to drive Harras Khan to the accommodation in Cheshire after the murder of Taimoor Zaheer in Handsworth, Birmingham.

Ashraf, of Monica Road, Small Heath, Birmingham, was convicted in August of assisting an offender by arranging accommodation and transportation.

The 27-year-old was ordered to serve nine months behind bars.

Harras Khan, 25, and his brother Anib Khan, both of Crompton Road in Handsworth, were jailed for life in November after being found guilty of murdering 22-year-old Mr Zaheer in a suspected drugs feud.

Anib Khan, 23, was caught on CCTV firing into Mr Zaheer's car on 22 May 2018, while police said Harras Khan handed him the weapon.

Taimoor Zaheer was found with gunshot wounds inside his car and was confirmed dead at the scene

Sentencing Ashraf at Birmingham Crown Court, Judge Paul Farrer QC said Harras Khan was in "extensive phone contact" with her before, and immediately after, the shooting.

After lying to police during a phone call in June last year, claiming her boyfriend may be in Pakistan, Ashraf booked a property in Nantwich and drove him there in a hire car, before spending several days with him.

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Judge Farrer said Ashraf "undoubtedly acted out of character and through a sense of misguided loyalty".

But he added: "The offender you assisted had committed the offence of murder.

"I have no doubt that you were aware that he was guilty of either murder or a minimum of manslaughter.

"Your intention was to assist Harras Khan in evading the police and you were therefore intending to frustrate the police in relation to an offence of the utmost gravity."

Anib Khan was jailed for life with a minimum of 32 years