Aya Hachem: Blackburn award to honour woman shot in drive-by

Thanking organisers for "remembering" Aya Hachem, her mother said she had been "such an amazing daughter"

An award honouring the best of a town's young residents has been renamed as a "lasting tribute" to a woman who was killed in a botched drive-by shooting.

Aya Hachem was caught in the crossfire of a feud between two rival tyre firms in Blackburn on 17 May 2020.

One Voice Blackburn said it had renamed its Young Person of the Year award to show the town will "never forget Aya".

Thanking the organisation, her mother Samar Salame said the 19-year-old was "an inspiration to everyone".

Ms Hachem was shot as she was walking to the supermarket to buy food for her family to eat when they broke their Ramadan fast.

Seven men were jailed at Preston Crown Court in August for her murder after the court heard Ms Hachem was "in the wrong place at the wrong time" when she was killed.

'Very small gesture'

One Voice Blackburn holds its 1V Awards annually to celebrate the achievements of the local community.

The 1V Young Person of the Year award will be renamed as The Aya Hachem Young Person of the Year Award.

Chief executive Zaffer Khan said the award would be a "fitting and lasting tribute" to Ms Hachem.

"This is a very small gesture to say that the people of Blackburn will never forget Aya," he said.

"She carried out a lot of charity work, and was an inspiration to the young people of the borough."

Thanking the organisers for "remembering my daughter in this way", Mrs Salame said she had been "an inspiration to everyone and was such an amazing daughter".

"She came to the UK when she was 10 years old [and] she had a lot of obstacles, but overcame every single one," she said.

"She worked so hard and studied day and night to achieve her goals.

"Despite of being deprived of many things, she persevered like the strong woman she was."

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