US woman to be sentenced over failed assassination plot in Birmingham
Aimee Betro, 45, was found guilty of conspiracy to murder, possessing a self-loading pistol and fraudulently evading the prohibition on importing ammunition after a three-week trial which ended last week.
The graphic design and childhood education graduate tried to shoot Sikander Ali at point-blank range outside his home in Measham Grove, Yardley, Birmingham, shortly after 8pm on September 7 2019.
Judge Simon Drew KC will sentence Betro, who is originally from West Allis in Wisconsin but lived in Armenia until earlier this year, at Birmingham Crown Court.
Jurors at her trial heard she took part in a plot orchestrated by co-conspirators Mohammed Aslam, 56, and his son Mohammed Nabil Nazir, 31, who were sentenced for their part last year, following a feud with Mr Ali's father, Aslat Mahumad.
Nazir was jailed for 32 years in November 2024 for offences including conspiracy to murder while Aslam was sentenced to 10 years.
Prosecution counsel Tom Walkling KC said 'revenge was the motive' after Nazir and Aslam were injured during disorder at Mr Mahumad's clothing boutique in Birmingham in July 2018, which led them to conspire to have someone kill him or a member of his family.
Mr Walkling told Betro's trial that she met Nazir, who lived in Derby, on a dating app in late 2018 and then communicated with him via Snapchat before flying to the UK on Christmas Day of the same year.
She told the court she slept with Nazir at an Airbnb in London before returning to the US in January 2019.
Records show Betro landed at Manchester Airport on a flight from Atlanta on August 22 2019, two weeks before the attempted killing of Mr Ali.
Betro was caught on CCTV at and near the scene of the failed attempt to shoot Mr Ali, who fled in his car after the gun jammed.
Security camera footage also captured her return to the scene hours later, when she aimed three shots through the front windows of Mr Ali's family home.
Betro told the court she flew into the UK to celebrate her 40th birthday and knew nothing of any shooting or murder plot by the time she returned to the US.
She also attempted to explain away evidence against her by claiming the woman caught on CCTV wielding a gun and recorded booking taxis was 'another American woman' known to Nazir who had a similar voice and footwear.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
BBC News
29 minutes ago
- BBC News
Teen set Redcar family door alight in wrong house attack
A teenage arsonist, who endangered a family when he set their front door on fire after mistaking their house for a rival's, has been detained. Alfie Leadbitter, 18, sprayed petrol on the door of the Redcar home and set it alight after his rival failed to turn up for an arranged fight, Teesside Crown Court home belonged to a couple and their 12-year-old daughter, all of whom were asleep at the time and could have been killed, the court of Rothwell Mews in Eston, admitted arson with intent to endanger life and was detained for almost four years. The teenager booked a taxi under a fake name and covered his face when he went to a street in Redcar on the night of 24 February, Judge Richard Bennett had arranged to fight another teenager but had taken a bottle of petrol with the intention of setting his rival's home alight if the youth did not turn up, the court about 23:30, when the family were in bed, Leadbitter set their front door alight and ran away, the court family, who did not know Leadbitter or his intended target, were roused by a neighbour and fortunately the fire was quickly extinguished, the judge said. 'Terrified and traumatised' In a statement read to the court, the woman from the house said she had been "walking on egg shells" ever since the blaze after living there for more than 25 years without said the front door was at the bottom of the stairs and therefore their main means of escape in a actions were "appalling" and put her family's lives "in jeopardy", the victim said. Judge Bennett said Leadbitter had gone "intent on revenge" and "got the wrong house", adding his actions left the family "terrified and traumatised".The judge said Leadbitter had told probation officers he felt "terrible" about setting the wrong home alight but it was "worrying" he had not shown remorse for using fire in the first was sentenced to 45 months detention in a young offenders institution. Follow BBC Tees on X, Facebook, Nextdoor and Instagram.
BBC News
29 minutes ago
- BBC News
Edinburgh doubles firework ban zones for Bonfire Night
Councillors have said that fireworks can be banned in nine areas in Edinburgh this coming bonfire season - more than double compared to last Firework Control Zones (FCZ) have been agreed in response to widespread disorder last year, when they were first in restrictions will return for 10 days around 5 November in Niddrie, Balerno, Seafield and Calton Hill, while Corstorphine, Longstone, Sighthill/Broomhouse, Gracemount and Moredun will get a FCZ for the first time. A report presented to councillors on the Culture and Communities Committee said there had been "overwhelming support" for the zones during a public consultation. Edinburgh became the first local authority to outlaw fireworks in August 2024, in response to constant anti-social was serious disorder in the Niddrie area the previous year, which led to support for a ban from community groups and animal welfare charities. The Scottish government gave local authorities new powers to designate FCZs in 2022 following a major riot in year police said Niddrie, Calder Road, Gracemount and Moredun were the areas in Edinburgh worse affected by disorder linked to city council had responses from almost 1,800 people and organisations to its consultation on local firework bans this year, with at least 88% in favour control zones in each of the nine designated areas. A report presented to councillors said it was also likely that Police Scotland would again introduce Dispersal Zones in the city, allowing them to instruct groups of two or more people to move off a firework in an FCZ is a criminal offence unless as part of a properly licensed public display. Animal welfare concerns In early November two red pandas at Edinburgh Zoo died, which veterinary experts said was a direct result of noise from Roxie choked on her own vomit on Bonfire Night, five days after her mother Ginger died unexpectedly - again at a time when pyrotechnics were being set off in the area around the zoo was not included in the four exclusion zones in 2024, but will be covered by the Corstorphine zone this Supple, deputy chief executive of the Royal Zoological Society of Scotland (RZSS), said staff were grateful for this year's exclusion zone around the zoo as it would help protect animals. He said: "The loud noises can be incredibly frightening. Many pet owners, livestock owners, horse owners will be aware of the sheer fright, panic and stress that fireworks can cause animals. "The more we can reduce the noise, the better it's going to be for animal welfare."Murrayfield Stadium is less than two miles away from Edinburgh Zoo, and recent concerts there, including the Oasis events, have concluded with a fireworks Royal Military Tattoo has replaced its traditional fireworks finale at the castle this summer with a drone show and low-noise Mr Supple said this was less of an issue compared Bonfire Night, adding: "Our biggest concern around fireworks in the November period is the constant barrage of noises which can cause severe stress to animals – not just once or twice, but over a prolonged period of time."Councillors in Glasgow have already confirmed it will have three firework control zones from 1 to 10 November this year, following a failed attempt to implement zones in 2024.
BBC News
29 minutes ago
- BBC News
Rotherham man who raped vulnerable schoolgirl jailed
A man who groomed and repeatedly raped a vulnerable schoolgirl has been jailed for 15 2005 Paul Richardson began giving the 14-year-old girl love letters, gifts and alcohol. When he was aged 42 and the girl was 15, he raped her four times.A trial heard how Richardson, now 63, from Rotherham, used to pick the victim up in his car, sometimes from school, and would overpower or manipulate her when she said she did not want to have sex.A jury found him guilty of four counts of raping a girl aged 13 to 15 and one count of attempted rape at Sheffield Crown Court and he was sentenced on Thursday. The trial heard Richardson knew the child had a chaotic home life and had set about making her feel dependent on him for stability and so she would not report the Blain, senior investigating officer for the National Crime Agency (NCA), said the girl had been "vulnerable" and "saw him as a father figure"."While nothing can erase the trauma she has suffered, I hope that the outcome brings her some measure of closure," she the victim, who is now aged in her 30s, had shown "enormous strength" in testifying against Richardson. Richardson first assaulted the victim in 2005, after taking her to a cinema and then to a hotel in Nottinghamshire, where he gave her wine and kissed victim told investigators how she repeatedly said she did not want him to kiss her, but he ignored her pleas and raped also took the girl to a hotel in Rotherham where he attempted to rape her, and then later did rape court heard he also raped the girl twice at a house in Nottinghamshire in the months after the first from Operation Stovewood, the NCA's enquiry into historic sexual abuse in Rotherham, contacted the victim in gave them a phone, which Richardson had given her as a contained sexual texts from him. He was arrested and charged in March last McRobb, specialist prosecutor for the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS), said Richardson's "sole motivation was sexual"."No child should endure what this victim suffered," he said the CPS was committed to bringing perpetrators of child sexual abuse to justice, "no matter how much time has passed".Richardson was cleared of 10 further charges, including two counts of rape, two of attempted rape, sexual assault and addition to the prison sentence, he was handed a sexual harm prevention order (SHPO) and will also remain on the sex offenders register for life. Listen to highlights from South Yorkshire on BBC Sounds, catch up with the latest episode of Look North
