Dad and son who hired ‘hitwoman in hijab disguise’ to murder rival in botched assassination plot are jailed
A DAD and son who hired a hitwoman disguised in a hijab to murder a rival in a botched assassination plot have been jailed for life.
Mohammed Nazir, 30, and Mohammed Aslam, 56, recruited a US-based woman named as Aimee Betro to kill the head of a rival family.
The 44-year-old allegedly travelled to Birmingham, West Midlands, and disguised herself under a hijab to carry out the contract hit.
But when she was said to have pointed the gun at Sikander Ali’s head and pulled the trigger, the weapon jammed and the target was able to flee.
Undeterred, she later allegedly went to Sikander’s home and fired three shots at it before flying back to America.
A global hunt was launched for Betro, who had taken selfies before the shooting, and she was arrested in Armenia.
Nazir and Aslam have now been jailed for a total of 42 years after they were found guilty of conspiracy to murder.
Birmingham Crown Court heard the pair hatched the plot following a fight at a boutique clothing store in 2018.
Both Nazir and Aslam harboured a grudge against Sikander and his family after they came off worse in the scuffle.
Hell-bent on revenge, they enlisted the help of the hitwoman – flying her over from the US so she could execute Sikander.
The would-be assassin made contact with Sikander’s dad Aslat Mahamud and pretended to be interested in buying a car he was flogging to arrange a meeting.
On the day before the murder attempt, Betro snapped a selfie with a devil horn effect and boasted about meeting her “partner in crime“.
She then allegedly arrived for the pre-arranged meeting in a Mercedes and walked “quite calmly” towards Sikander with the gun pointed at his head.
Kevin Hegarty KC, prosecuting, said: “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.”
In the early hours of the following morning, the gunwoman got a cab to Sikander’s family home and fired three shots at it.
She then got in the waiting taxi and messaged Aslat Mahamud, saying: “Where are you hiding?” and “Stop playing hide and seek”.
The hitwoman added: “You want to rip me off, you want to be a drug kingpin go look at your house. I will show you. Watch your back. I will be shedding blood soon.”
The court was told Betro left Britain on September 9, 2019 – two days after the botched plot.
Detective Inspector Matt Marston, from West Midlands Police, said: “Aslam and Nazir were determined to take revenge following a fall out where they were injured.
“The lengths they went to in trying to make sure they weren’t implicated in pulling the trigger are immense.
“However, thanks to some great police work and support from our Derbyshire colleagues we were able to place them firmly in the middle of the attempted murder plot.”