US national Aimee Betro jailed for 30 years over failed Birmingham assassination

BBC News

6 hours ago

Update:
Date: 11:07 BST
Title: Watch: Betro's attempted shooting caught on CCTV
Content: CCTV footage shows Betro's attempted shooting on 7 September 2019 and subsequent shooting in the early hours of 8 September.
This video can not be played
Aimee Betro's attempted shooting caught on CCTV
Update:
Date: 11:03 BST
Title: Betro given three concurrent sentences
Content: In total, Judge Drew KC has sent her to prison for 30 years.
She will have to spend at least two thirds of the sentence in jail.
Betro received an overall sentence of 30 years for conspiracy to murder, however, but she was also jailed for six years for possessing a self-loading pistol with intent to cause fear of violence and two years for illegally importing ammunition.
The two shorter sentences will run concurrently to the longer term.
Update:
Date: 11:00 BST
Title: 'Beyond reaching an agreement to kill'
Content: Betro showed no emotion as Judge Simon Drew KC passed sentence.
"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," he said.
Update:
Date: 10:54 BST
Title: Aimee Betro jailed for 30 years
Content: The judge has now passed his sentence jailing Betro for 30 years after she was found guilty of attempting to shoot a man dead in the UK.
Update:
Date: 10:48 BST
Title: 'Expressionless'
Content: David LumbBBC News Online
Betro is sitting in the dock listening to the judge's summing up.
He has described her as taking a "leading role" in the shooting.
She is sitting expressionless.
Her hair is in plaits, she is wearing glasses and is wearing a white top and a black cardigan.
Thirteen people are sitting in the public gallery.
Update:
Date: 10:44 BST
Title: Gun 'fortunately' jammed, says judge
Content: On 7 September 2018, Betro travelled to Birmingham to carry out the attempted assassination, Judge Drew KC said.
He said it was only fortune that the gun jammed on her initial attempt, and so no one was hurt.
She later returned to fire three shots into the home of her victims. The judge again said it was "fortunate" that no one was injured.
Update:
Date: 10:40 BST
Title: Who else was involved?
Content: Mohammed Aslam (left) and Mohammed Nazir
While Aimee Betro is being sentenced today, her two co-conspirators have already been jailed for their part in the plot.
Mohammed Nazir and Mohammed Aslam, both from Elms Avenue, in Derby, were sent to prison last year for constructing the plan with the American.
Following the trial, Nazir was found guilty of conspiracy to murder, possession of a firearm with intent to cause fear of violence.
He was also found guilty of perverting the course of justice and illegally importing firearms over a plot to bring guns into the country and then blame it on another person to frame them.
The 31-year-old was sentenced to 32 years in prison.
Aslam, 59, was cleared of a firearms offence, but found guilty of conspiracy to murder. He was jailed for 10 years.
Update:
Date: 10:33 BST
Title: Plan was 'intended to be an execution'
Content: The court has been told by the judge that the plot was "intended to be an execution".
He said he is "quite sure" that the plan was formulated in revenge after Nazir and Aslam were injured during disorder at Mr Mahumad's clothing boutique in July 2018.
Update:
Date: 10:33 BST
Title: Judge begins summing up
Content: Judge Drew KC is now summing up the facts of the case.
He has said he has reviewed the sentence given to Betro's co-conspirators to ensure "fairness and consistency' between the sentences.
Update:
Date: 10:32 BST
Title: Betro has been 'model prisoner', says defence
Content: Addressing the court, defence barrister Paul Lewis KC said that Betro has been a "model prisoner" during her time in jail.
She was previously of "good character" which could see her sentence shortened by Judge Drew KC.
Update:
Date: 10:30 BST
Title: Betro was 'infatuated with Mr Nazir'
Content: Defence barrister Paul Lewis, KC, is now giving his submission to the judge.
He has suggested a reduced sentence as she was "recruited into the enterprise" by Mohammed Nazir.
Nazir also "probably provided the gun" that was employed in the course of the shooting, he said.
"He was the instigator and prime mover in what occurred," he tells the court.
He adds there was no evidence of any financial gain by Betro.
Quite what motivated her to become involved was a matter for the judge's assessment, he says.
The only explanation was her infatuation with Mr Nazir, he adds.
Update:
Date: 10:25 BST
Title: Offences were of 'high culpability'
Content: Concluding their arguments, prosecutors said Betro is of 'high culpability' due to her possessing a firearm.
They again encourage the judge to follow similar sentencing steps to those that were used for Nazir, who was jailed alongside his son, Mohammed Aslam, at the same court.
No victim impact statements have been read out.
Update:
Date: 10:23 BST
Title: Betro played 'leading role', say prosecutors
Content: Aimee Betro has entered the court, confirming her name, and is sitting in the dock awaiting sentence.
Prosecution counsel is making submissions as to aggravating features the judge should take into account when sentencing her.
Prosecutors have told Judge Simon Drew KC that Betro played a "leading role" in the plot.
They have asked that the judge take a similar approach to sentencing as was taken with Mohammed Nazir in 2024, who was jailed for 32 years.
Update:
Date: 10:17 BST
Title: What happened during the trial?
Content: During the trial, jurors were told that Aimee Betro had been involved in a conspiracy with two men - Mohammed Aslam and his son Mohammed Nazir - as part of their vendetta against Birmingham businessman Aslat Mahumad.
Prosecutors said revenge was the men's motive after Nazir and Aslam were injured during disorder at Mr Mahumad's clothing boutique in July 2018.
However, Betro's gun jammed when she fired at at point blank range at the son of the rival businessman during the attempt in September 2019, the court heard.
The 45-year-old returned to the scene in a taxi in the early hours of the following day and fired three shots through the windows of the empty family home. She fled the UK the day after.
Betro was found guilty by a majority 11-1 verdict on the conspiracy to murder and firearm charges, and by a unanimous verdict on the ammunition charge.
Update:
Date: 10:11 BST
Title: Sentencing gets under way
Content: The sentencing has just got under way in courtroom four at Birmingham Crown Court, in Newton Street.
The barristers for the prosecution and defence will make their submissions to Judge Simon Drew KC, referring to sentencing guidelines and aggravating and mitigating features that they believe he should take into account when determining the sentence.
A court log states that the length of the hearing is estimated to be one hour, so we may get the sentence at about 11:00 BST today.
Update:
Date: 10:03 BST
Title: 'A fairly unexceptional individual'
Content: Betro, a childhood development and graphic design graduate from the US city of West Allis, has been described as "fairly unexceptional" with virtually no "criminal footprint".
The path of how she ended up agreeing to be a contract killer is not fully clear.
Det Ch Insp Alastair Orencas from West Midlands Police's major crime unit said: "On the face of it, a normal-looking individual [but] prepared to do an outrageous, audacious and persistent murder."
The trial heard she had previously met Nazir via a dating app and slept with him at an Airbnb in London's Kings Cross during a visit to the UK between December 2018 and January 2019, although it remains unclear how she came to be hired to carry out the shooting.
Update:
Date: 09:54 BST
Title: Live updates on the sentencing of would-be assassin Aimee Betro
Content: Good morning - and welcome to our live updates on the sentencing of Aimee Betro.
The 45-year-old from Wisconsin flew to the UK only for her gun to jam during an assassination attempt while she was wearing a niqab.
Earlier this month Betro was convicted of conspiracy to murder, possession of a firearm with intent and being knowingly concerned in the fraudulent evasion of a prohibition on the importation of ammunition.