A HITWOMAN from the US used a hijab to disguise herself as she tried to murder a man and his family, a court has heard.
Female assassin Aimee Betro, 44, was hired by Mohammed Nazir, 30, and Mohammed Aslam, 56, for a revenge execution in Birmingham.
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But the weapon jammed as she attempted to gun down Sikander Ali in the street on Measham Grove, Acocks Green, on September 7, 2019.
Following the botched assassination attempt, she returned to the property in a taxi and fired her weapon three times at the house.
She also text Mr Ali’s father Aslat Mahamud, the intended target, saying “where are you hiding?” and “stop playing hide and seek”.
Betro later fled back to Chicago while police tracked down Nazir and Aslam and charged them in connection with the assassination plot.
Last week, Nazir and Aslam, of Derby, were found guilty of conspiracy to murder following a trial at Birmingham Crown Court.
Nazir was also convicted of possession of a firearm with intent to cause fear of violence, illegally importing firearms and perverting the course of justice.
Jurors were told the pair held a grudge against the family following a dispute at a boutique clothing store in 2018 which left them both injured.
Bent on revenge they became part of a plan to kill the owner of the Birmingham store or target his family.
They plotted vengeance and arranged for Betro to fly from the US, who contacted Mr Mahamud pretending to be interested in buying a car he was selling.
Kevin Hegarty KC, prosecuting, said a Mercedes was driven into Measham Grove and parked before Mr Ali pulled up in an Audi outside another address.
He said: “As he did the would-be assassin came from the driver’s side of the Mercedes.
“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.
“She did not drive very far away and she abandoned the Mercedes, where it was later found, and she called a taxi just before 9pm.”
Mr Hegarty said in the early hours of the following morning the woman called the same firm and took a taxi to Measham Grove again.
He added: “She took out a gun, it may have been the same gun.
“She took aim and fired three shots in the direction of the house before returning to the waiting taxi.”
Jurors heard Betro had bought the Mercedes from a dealer in Birmingham after flying from Chicago to Manchester, via Atlanta, on August 22 – 16 days before the shooting.
In the days leading up to the incident she stayed at a number of hotels in Birmingham, Derby, Brighton and London and left the UK on September 9.
Before flying back to the US, Betro had contacted Virgin airlines and tried to change the flight documents so that Nazir could fly back with her but failed.
The pair will be sentenced on August 9.
Detective Inspector Matt Marston, from West Midlands Police, said afterwards: “This was a complex and protracted investigation.
“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.
“We hope that today, after a number of years unravelling this investigation, justice has been served.”
A Derbyshire Police spokesperson said: “That nobody died as a result of Aslam and Nazir’s actions is through nothing other than sheer good fortune.
“Their plan was to kill and had it not been for the gun jamming, then there is a good chance this would have been a murder investigation.
“The importation of firearms is an extremely serious offence, and in this case the purpose was to frame their target in revenge for a previous incident.
“As a police service, we will do everything we can to target those who aim to bring these weapons into our communities and bring them to justice.”
West Midlands Police said efforts to find her “continue”.
