Father and son jailed after hiring 'wannabe female assassin' from the US to murder UK family

Mohammed Aslam and son Mohammed Nazir recruited 44-year-old alleged contract killer Aimee Betro for a retaliation killing in Birmingham. Today they were jailed for conspiracy to murder

A father and son have been jailed for a combined 42 years, for conspiracy to murder after hiring an alleged female assassin from the USA to kill a family in the UK.

Mohammed Aslam and son Mohammed Nazir recruited 44-year-old alleged contract killer Aimee Betro for a retaliation killing in Birmingham. The gun jammed in the bungled attempt to kill boutique clothing store owner Sikander Ali, on the street. Betro, a Wisconsin native from Milwaukee, took a selfie featuring a devil horn effect the day before she allegedly attempted to kill the family.

Along with posting pictures of cocktails, she had also braggingly claimed to have met her "partner in crime" in Manchester. After the failed attempt at murder, she headed back to a home in Birmingham in a taxi and shot at the house three times, a court heard.

She also sent the intended recipient, Mr Ali's father Aslat Mahamud, a text message asking him to "stop playing hide and seek" and "where are you hiding?" Betro fled the UK and returned to Chicago, with police pursuing 56-year-old dad Nazir and 30-year-old son Aslam, accusing them of being involved in the plot to assassinate.

She was later arrested in Armenia. Following a trial at Birmingham Crown Court in June, Nazir and Aslam, of Derby, were found guilty of conspiracy to kill. Nazir was also found guilty of illegally importing firearms, perverting the course of justice, and possessing a firearm with the aim to provoke fear of violence.

Jurors heard that after an altercation in an upscale clothes store in 2018 that resulted in injuries to both of them, the couple harboured resentment toward Mr Ali's family. Driven by a desire for vengeance, they joined forces to assassinate the Birmingham business owner or attack his family.

Sentencing, Judge Simon Drew KC said it had been unclear what the original dispute between the families had been about although it may have involved wedding clothes.

He said: "Aslam sustained a serious head injury and the result was there was considerable antagonism and resentment between the two families. I am quite satisfied that the serious incident in July 2018 was the motive and motivation for what took place in September 2019.

"The two of you planned a revenge attack on Mr Mahumad and his family. This was not a spontaneous reaction to events. In order to do that you recruited Aimee Betro, an American woman, who you, Nazir, appeared to have met and befriended some time before in what frankly would, had it been successful, have amounted to an execution. There is evidence to suggest that Betro was rewarded for taking part in it."

The judge told the court there appeared to have been some form of relationship between Nazir and Betro.

He said there was also evidence that the two defendants had done a "recce" of the area before the attempted hit and that Betro had waited a long period of time before confronting Mr Ali.

He added: "She was armed with a pistol probably supplied by you Nazir. When Mr Ali returned to his home CCTV footage recorded from a nearby property clearly shows Aimee Betro getting out of her car and approaching Mr Ali as he has got out of his car and at a distance, I would say, of six to seven yards then trying to shoot him. It did not discharge."

Judge Drew said the intention had been to kill a member of the Mahumad family if not Aslat Mahamud himself and added: "It is only a matter of chance that Sikander Ali was not killed.

"It was at very close range, almost point blank." He said that Nazir had also flown to the United States but returned a month later when he was arrested.

Andrew Selby KC, defending Nazir, said during the incident in 2018 he had suffered a brain injury.

He said: "Many people speak highly of him. He has strong family and community ties and is hard working. This was wholly out of character."

Prosecutor, Kevin Hegarty KC said the history between the defendants and the target date back to July 21, 2018, with a dispute at a jewellery shop belonging to the victim, where the front windows were broken, and the inside was 'trashed.' When police arrived, Nazir and Aslam were alleged to have been standing in the rear doorway injured. Just three days later, their home in Derby was attacked.

They planned their revenge and got Betro to travel from the US after he pretended to be interested in purchasing a car that Mr Mahamud was selling. Mr Hegarty stated Mr Ali arrived in an Audi outside of a different residence on September 7, 2019.

"As he was doing it, the potential killer emerged from the Mercedes' driver's side," he stated. "It was a woman. As she left the Mercedes she left the driver's door open. She walked quite calmly towards Sikander Ali and was pointing a gun at him at head height. As she got closer to Sikander Ali, he saw her and he saw the gun and she pulled the trigger to fire the gun at him."

"Mercifully and luckily for him the gun jammed. He quickly reversed his car striking the open door of the Mercedes. The would-be assassin then ran back to the Mercedes and started to drive away. As she did so she tried to close the driver's door but could not do so."

Mr Hegarty said later got a taxi to the target's home. He said: "She left the taxi but asked the driver to wait. She went on foot to Measham Grove. She stood more or less where (the man who she tried to shoot) had pulled up in his car the previous evening. She produced the gun. It might have been the same gun she had earlier. It might have been another. She took out the gun and took aim and then fired three shots in the direction of the house. In the process the bullets entered through the first floor window. The sound of the shots caused local dogs to bark."

The jury heard how Betro allegedly took the taxi back to McDonald's in Bordesley Green, then fled the UK on September 9 that year from Manchester to New York and then on to Chicago, never to return. It was alleged that she called the intended target to enquire about buying a Volkswagen Golf from him, prior to the assassination attempt. The court heard how after the incident, Betro is said to have texted the target "where are you hiding?" and "stop playing hide and seek you are lucky it jammed".

The prosecutor claims she sent further messages saying 'who is it your family or you?' and 'pick one' as she told the target to meet her at an Asda. Betro allegedly texted him after the second incident, saying 'you want to rip me off, you want to be a drugs kingpin go look at your house. I will show you. Watch your back. I will be shedding blood soon'. The jury was told he responded: "What are you talking about? I'm a family man I have never sold drugs in my life."

Betro is thought to have flown into the UK from America on August 22, 2019 and stayed at hotels across Manchester, Derby, London, Brighton and Birmingham - including the Radisson Blu and the Rotunda - before to the attempted shooting.

Mohammed Aslam and son Mohammed Nazir were both found guilty and were today sentenced at Birmingham Crown Court. Nazir, 30, was sentenced to 32 years for conspiracy to murder while Mohammed Aslam, 56, was told he would serve 10 years.