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 father.
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 him 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.
In the early hours, she took a taxi back to the house Mr Ali shared with his father and fired three shots at the bedroom windows, but it was empty.
Betro flew back to the US the next day and spent five years on the run, eventually fleeing to Armenia.
The trial was told Nazir and Aslam 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.
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.”
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The would-be assassin is originally from the US state of Wisconsin but lived in Armenia until earlier this year, when she extradited.
She told her trial it was all a coincidence and that the woman captured on CCTV and recorded ordering a taxi to the crime scene was someone who looked and sounded like her.
The gun was never recovered but is believed to be the same one being test-fired – and jamming – in a video found on Nazir’s phone.
