Student shot dead was in 'wrong place at wrong time' amid feud between rival tyre shops, court hears

A 19-year-old law student was “simply unlucky” when she was shot dead in the street during a feud between two neighbouring firm owners, a court has heard.

Aya Hachem was gunned down in a drive-by shooting in Blackburn, Lancashire, on 17 May last year.

The shooting was the result of a long-running dispute between Feroz Suleman, the owner of RI Tyres, and Pachach Khan, the proprietor of Quickshine Tyres, a jury at Preston Crown Court was told.

Opening the case on Thursday, prosecutor Nicholas Johnson QC said Ms Achem was “simply unlucky” and at “the wrong place at the wrong time”.

He said: “The bad blood between the men had been building over a period of time and it got to the extent that a plan was hatched to kill Mr Khan and/or someone else at Quickshine Tyres.

“What happened was planned in detail and involved many people. The prosecution alleges that each of the eight people in the dock played their part.

“At 3pm on Sunday 17 May, Aya Hachem was shot dead whilst walking along King Street in Blackburn.

“She was shot by Zamir Raja who was sitting in the back of a Toyota Avensis being driven by Anthony Ennis.”

He continued: “Raja was a hitman brought in from south Manchester to do a job. He fired two shots from the car which was being driven past Quickshine Tyres.

“Raja’s intended target, or one of his intended targets, was Pachah Khan.

“Zamir Raja’s first shot hit one of the windows of Quickshine, the second hit Aya Hachem.

“Aya had no connection to either Mr Khan, his business, Zamir Raja, or anyone else in this case. She was simply unlucky. She was in the wrong place at the wrong time.”

All eight suspects deny murder and have pleaded not guilty to the attempted murder of Mr Khan.

The suspects have been named as Suleman, 40, of Blackburn; Raja, 33, of Stretford, Greater Manchester; Ennis, 31, of Partington, Greater Manchester; Kashif Manzoor, 26, of, Blackburn; Ayaz Hussain, 35, of Blackburn; Abubakr Satia, 32, of Blackburn; his brother Uthman Satia, 29, of Great Harwood; and Judy Chapman, 26, of Great Harwood.

The feuding began in early 2019 when Quickshine began selling tyres next door to RI after previously restricting itself to washing cars, Mr Johnson told the court.

But matters deteriorated on 3 December of that year when someone set fire to RI Tyres in King Street in the early hours of the morning, with the individuals involved not being identified.

Mr Johnson said on 1 May last year, Suleman called the police and reported Pachah Khan had prevented workmen from entering Quickshine’s yard to finish putting up a new sign for RI Tyres.

The court heard how it was reported that Mr Khan had threatened to fetch a machete from his car if the workmen came on to his premises.

“On the other hand, Mr Khan told the police that Feroz Suleman had told him they would finish his business off, burn his premises down, assault him and kill him,” Mr Johnson said.

“By early May 2020, a serious plan had been hatched by these defendants to shoot someone at Quickshine Tyres. It was a plan that involved many people – each playing an important and significant part. It involved sourcing an expendable car and an assassin from out of the area who, they thought, would never be traced back to RI Tyres.”

The prosecutor added that Suleman was the “organiser of the whole thing” and that Abubakr Satia sourced the Avensis used in the shooting and “made sure all the key players were in the right place at the right time”.

The trial is expected to last up to 10 weeks.

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