A woman who flew from the US to kill a Birmingham shop owner as part of a violent feud has been jailed for 30 years.
Aimee Betro, 45, tried to shoot Sikander Ali outside his home in the city in September 2019 but the gun jammed and he fled.
Betro was part of a plot with Mohammed Nabil Nazir, 31, and his father, Mohammed Aslam, 56, who were in a feud with Mr Ali’s family.
Betro arrived in the UK two weeks before the failed killing. Pic: PA
During her trial, Betro said she had travelled to the UK on two previous occasions after meeting Nazir on a dating app.
CCTV showed her waiting for 45 minutes outside Mr Ali’s house on 7 September 2019.
When he arrived – and wearing a niqab to hide her identity – Betro approached but the gun failed and Mr Ali jumped back in his car and escaped.
She then goaded Mr Ali’s father, Aslat Mahumad – with whom her co-conspirators had a business feud – by sending texts including: “Stop playing hide and seek, you are lucky it jammed”, and asking him to meet her at an Asda.
CCTV of Betro following the attempted shooting in Yardley, Birmingham. Pic: PA
Betro returned a few hours after the gun jammed and fired at the house three times
She returned to Mr Ali’s home in a taxi in the early hours and fired three shots at the property, but it was empty, and Betro fled to the US the next day.
The trial was told her co-conspirators had been injured during disorder at Mr Mahumad’s clothing shop in 2018, leading them to plot to have someone kill him or a member of his family.
Betro was found guilty of conspiracy to murder earlier this month, while Nazir and Aslam were jailed in November to 32 years and 10 years respectively.
Mohammed Nabil Nazir and Mohammed Aslam.
Pic: West Midlands Police/PA
She showed no emotion on Thursday when the 30-year conspiracy sentence was read out. Betro was also given a concurrent six-year sentence for possessing a firearm and a two-year term for importing ammunition.
Judge Simon Drew KC told her: “You went beyond simply reaching an agreement to kill and, in reality, you did intend to kill Mr Ali. It is only a matter of chance that Mr Ali wasn’t killed.
“You were engaged in a complex, well-planned conspiracy to murder. You were prepared to pull the trigger and did so on two separate occasions.”
The would-be assassin is originally from the US state of Wisconsin but lived in Armenia until earlier this year.
She told her trial the woman captured on CCTV and recorded ordering a taxi back to the crime scene was someone who looked and sounded like her.
