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

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

Mohammed Aslam and son Mohammed Nazir recruited 44-year-old 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 attempted to kill the family.

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

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.

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 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 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 . 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.