Seven men are jailed for life for murdering innocent law student, 19

Seven men have been jailed for life for the murder of law student Aya Hachem who was mistakenly gunned down in a botched drive-by shooting.

Tyre firm boss Feroz Suleman, 40, arranged the execution of a rival businessman in broad daylight but the gunman he hired instead shot dead innocent passer-by Aya.

The 19-year-old who dreamed of becoming a solicitor had fled from violence in her native Lebanon as a child to settle with her family in Blackburn, Lancashire.

Miss Hachem was shot on May 17 last year while on a trip to a nearby supermarket to buy food ready for when her family would break their Ramadan feast that evening.

She died in hospital after a bullet entered her left shoulder, passed through her body and embedded itself in a telegraph pole.

On Thursday, Suleman, of Blackburn, was ordered to serve a minimum of 34 years before he can be considered for parole.

The gunman, Zamir Raja, 33, of Stretford, was jailed for a minimum of 34 years and his driver, Anthony Ennis, 31, of Partington, must serve at least 33 years.

Fellow accomplices Ayaz Hussain, 36, Abubakr Satia, 32, both of Blackburn; his brother, Uthman Satia, 29, of Great Harwood, and Kashif Manzoor, 26, of Blackburn were handed minimum terms of 32 years, 28 years, 28 years, and 27 years, respectively.

Sentencing, Mr Justice Turner told Suleman: 'You were the driving force behind the whole deadly enterprise from beginning to end and followed through this plan with obsessive determination.

'When you were in prison you commented to Abubakr Satia you were the captain of the ship and if you were to go down then everyone would down with you. How right you were.'

Yesterday, horrific footage showed the moment Aya's drive-by killers opened fire on a rival tyre firm but hit her at point-blank range as she walked to the shop.

CCTV captured the 19-year-old law student walking past the garage on the way to Lidl before she was hit in the chest by a stray bullet shot from a Toyota Avensis.

The force of the blast sent the round straight through her body and into a nearby telegraph pole.

She was not the intended target of the shooting, which came after a long-running feud between rival tyre firm owners Suleman and Pachah Khan.  

Judy Chapman, 26, was cleared of murdering Aya but found guilty of manslaughter after a 12-week trial.

All seven men were also convicted of the attempted murder of Pachah Khan while Chapman was acquitted of the attempted murder of Mr Khan.

Lancashire Police today released the footage showing the moments leading up to Aya's death.

The clip shows the Toyota slowly approach the garage as one of the early rounds burst a bucket near one of the workers - causing him to spin around in horror.

The video ends by showing innocent bystander Aya standing on the path between the shooter and the target - just feet away from the gun that killed her.

Other media released by the police force - as the case against her killers came to a close - shows the gun being pointed out of the car.

Car wash workers look on in surprise as they watch the Toyota slow down and the small handgun poke out from the back left passenger seat.

Preston Crown Court heard the drive-by shooting was organised by Suleman, who had been embroiled in a bitter feud with his neighbour and business rival Mr Khan.

Suleman hired Raja, a hitman from Manchester, to carry out the shooting for the price of £1,500.

Raja, of no fixed address, refused to fully participate in cross-examination and later pleaded guilty to manslaughter.

On his behalf, his legal team argued it was never his intention to kill and he had set out on a mission to 'scare or intimidate' Mr Khan and his workers at Quickshine Tyres.

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

Footage from CCTV cameras captured Suleman stood outside his premises next door at RI Tyres with a 'ringside seat' to the shooting.

The first shot hit the front window of Quickshine and the second was let off as Lebanese-born Ms Hachem walked by - hitting her rather than the intended target.

Nicholas Johnson QC previously told the jury Raja, the man who he says fired the shot that killed Aya, fled to Portugal via Dublin nine days after the incident. 

Three days later Anthony Ennis, the man accused of being Raja's driver at the time of the hit, flew to the continent on his brother's passport, it was heard.

Prosecutors say a meet up between the pair in which they initially pretended not to know each other but later embraced in a 'brotherly hug' was caught on CCTV.

Nicholas Johnson QC told the jury at Preston Crown Court: 'They thought they had got away with murder. Home free.'

By this stage, other suspects Feroz Suleman, Judy Chapman, Kashif Manzoor, Abubkar Satia, Uthman Satia and Hussain Ayaz had all been arrested.

Ten days after he had travelled to Portugal, Raja returned to the UK in a car he had hired with Ennis in Portugal, Mr Johnson told the court.

Mr Johnson said the feud between Suleman and Mr Khan started in 2019 when Quickshine began selling tyres next door to RI after previously only washing cars.

This resulted in 'bad blood', it was heard, and a plan was hatched to kill Mr Khan and/or someone else at Quickshine.

The court heard Aya, an aspiring solicitor, was walking along King Street in Blackburn at 3pm on May 17, 2020, when she was hit.

Aya, a second-year student at the University of Salford, died in hospital from a single gunshot wound a short time later of an 'irreversible' cardiac arrest.

Her distraught parents said she was the 'most loyal, devoted daughter' who enjoyed spending time with her family.

Aya and her family were also known to be heavily involved with Blackburn's asylum seeker and refugee community.

She herself had fled war-torn Lebanon for a new life in the UK and had passed her second year exams shortly before her tragic death.

She was a trustee with the Children's Society and won Student of the Year at Blackburn Central High School in 2016.

In a touching tribute online at the time of Aya's death, Noreen Hussain said: 'Aya Hachem was exactly the type of young woman I'd love for her to aspire to be like.'

The Asylum and Refugee Community (ARC) Project wrote in a Facebook post: 'With great sadness and heartache we have to share with you that we have lost Aya, beloved eldest daughter of Samar and Ismael from Lebanon.

'Aya, one of our own, lost her life in a horrific senseless attack, randomly caught up in a shooting outside Lidl, King Street, Blackburn as she walked past at around 3pm on Sunday.

'Aya, a beautiful 19 year old young woman from Lebanon, had just passed her 2nd year law exams at Salford University and had a dream and ambition to study international law. Aya and her family are much loved in our ARC community.

'Our hearts and prayers are with them at this painful time especially during this holy month of Ramadan when Aya and her family were fasting.'