Aya Hachem: Woman jailed over student's drive-by shooting

A woman who acted as a getaway driver for a gunman who shot a student dead in a feud between two rival tyre firms has been jailed for 15 years.

Aya Hachem, 19, was "in the wrong place at the wrong time" when she was killed in the botched drive-by shooting in Blackburn on 17 May last year.

Seven men were jailed for life in August for her murder.

Judy Chapman, 27, of Great Harwood, Lancashire, was cleared of her murder but found guilty of manslaughter.

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.

The Salford University law student, who dreamed of becoming a solicitor, was fatally struck by the second of two bullets fired from a Toyota Avensis at 15:00 BST.

Tyre firm boss Feroz Suleman, 40, had arranged the execution of a rival businessman but the hired gunman shot Ms Hachem dead instead, Preston Crown Court heard.

He was jailed for life with a minimum of 34 years.

Zamir Raja, 33, who agreed to carry out the shooting for £1,500, and accomplices Kashif Manzoor, 26, Ayaz Hussain, 36, Abubakr Satia, 32, Anthony Ennis, 31, and Uthman Satia, 29, were also jailed for life.

Aya Hachem was on her way to the shops to buy food for her family when she was shot dead

The court heard that Chapman drove the gunman Raja and his driver Ennis from Bolton to Blackburn with her boyfriend Satia.

Jurors were told the couple also acted as their getaway drivers after the shooting.

After the shooting, the Toyota was driven to a nearby car park where Chapman and Satia waited.

Top row L-R: Abubakr Satia, Anthony Ennis, Ayaz Hussain, Feroz Suleman. Bottom row L-R: Kashif Manzoor, Uthman Satia, Zamir Raja and Judy Chapman

The feud between the two businesses started in early 2019 when Quickshine Tyres, which previously only washed cars, began selling tyres next door to RI Tyres.

The bitter dispute escalated and Suleman hatched a murderous plot to kill Pachah Khan, the proprietor of Quickshine, with the help of his accomplices.

The court heard how the Toyota driven by Ennis with hitman Raja on board drove past Quickshine on three occasions shortly before the fatal fourth journey.

• Award to honour woman killed in drive-by shooting

• The student passer-by caught up in a fatal feud

• Seven guilty of student's drive-by shooting murder

Footage from CCTV cameras captured Suleman standing outside his premises with a "ringside seat" to the shooting.

Sentencing the seven men in August, Mr Justice Turner said: "None of you seven showed any remorse in the aftermath of the shooting. Together you tried to lie, scheme and plot your way out of trouble.

"It was not long before you all started to sacrifice your co-defendants in an attempt to save your own skins."

Senior Investigating Officer Zoe Russo said Chapman's sentencing "brings to a conclusion the trial of the eight defendants which is one of the largest and most complex investigations in the history of Lancashire Constabulary."

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