8 Jailed for murder of Aya Hachem in Blackburn last year

The man who phoned the police was Pacha khan (quick shine owner) and he was the intended target of a shooting in Blackburn during ramadan last year that resulted in the death of law student Aya Hachem.

Aya was walking to the shop on the way she passed quick shine car wash and stopped to let two bike riders past, if she hadn’t she would have lived.

It was at this moment a car was pulling up alongside her to take aim at the owner of the car wash who was behind her, the first shot smashed glass and the second shot fired from the backseat of the car hit Aya in the chest.

Stood only metres away was Feroz Suleman ,owner of R.I tyres and the organiser of the attempt assassination of his business rival mr Pacha

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He was caught on camera looking over to mr khan moments before the gunman opened fire

It was then Aya dropped to the floor Suleman walked forward to see and he crossed his arms and walked in to his office.

Prosecutors pointed out he had a phone but didn’t call a ambulance.

Sully was so confident in his plot to kill, he even stayed at the scene to watch it unfold.

Suleman had a good life, successful business and loving family.

R.I tyres had gained a following on social media where he would show off his fleet of sports cars to subscribers and followers

But it seemed greed and ego led to the downfall of a blackburn business man

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He involved 7 other people in his plot for revenge and to regain control he believed he was losing

8 GUILTY IN MURDE ROF AYA HACHEM

Conspiracy

In the months leading up the murder Feroz went to Dubai to celebrate his birthday.

The business man was constantly increased his fleet of sports cars which he drove round blackburn and posted to socials.

Business was booming and then Mr Khan moved in next door.

It began when Quick-shine (khan) started to sell tyres, putting them in direct competition with RI. 

Suleman stood infront of Quickshine sign

Timeline to murder

Reports of police contact leading up to the shooting on May 17, 2020:

13/1/2019 Pachah Khan contacted police to say he was being threatened and blackmailed by Suleman and his brothers. Not progressed. 

17/1/2019 Khan reported to police to say one of the cars being washed at Quick Shine had been stolen and he suspected RI Tyres was responsible. No-one identified. 

25/2/3019 Police attended RI following export 15 people were squaring up to each other outside the two businesses.

9/4/2019 Suleman sends text to Khan ‘you guys are doing it again, going over to customers and trying to get them to come to you’. Mr Khan didn’t respond. 

22/4/2019 Suleman said he had been the victim of a public order incident by one of Mr Khan’s employees. Police spoke to the individual and Suleman didn’t want to take it further. 

15/5/2019 Public order incident outside RI Tyres a fight was ongoing between two men. 

19/5/2019 Mr Khan reported ongoing issues with RI Tyres.

26/8/2019 Two calls made to police about 8-15 men in the street fighting. 

Suleman recorded a video on his phone in which he said: ‘F**k off home with your shi**y Quick Shine. I’m going to burn your face motherf**ker.’

5/2/2020 Texts between Suleman and Bruce Henderson. Suleman said: ‘I’m going to tw*t him’. 

17/2/2020 Police called when employees from the two businesses began to throw bolts and scrap metal at each other. 

17/2/2020 Suleman’s brother posted in an RI Tyres WhatsApp group: ‘Feroz get these lot wasted now.’

28/2/2020 Informal mediation between RI Tyres and Quick Shine took place at Blackburn Police Station. Mr Khan wanted a brick wall built but Suleman wanted to build a fence. Mr Khan refused to pay for half so Suleman said he would pay for it. 

5/3/2020 A Quick Shine customer heard workers from RI Tyres shouting at Mr Khan ‘why the hell are you giving business to that man, come to us and we’ll do the work for free, he’s not even British, he’s just scum, he’s a f**king paedophile, get back to where you came from, we will set fire to your place.’

15/3/2020 Suleman said the conflict was ongoing. 

Sully at R.I Tyres branch

Ongoing incidents

19/3/2020 Suleman emailed police saying the fence company had come to take measurements but Quick Shine wouldn’t allow access. 

26/3/2020 Mr Khan called police and said RI Tyres staff were encroaching onto his property and stealing customers. 

19/3/2020 Police called to report of eight men fighting outside and using stones as weapons. Nothing happening when officers arrived. 

1/5/2020 Suleman called police said Mr Khan had prevented workmen from entering to put up a new sign for RI Tyres. Mr Khan threatened to get a machete from his car. Mr Khan said RI Tyres staff said they would kill him. 

Today, seven men were convicted of her murder, and the attempted murder of the intended target Khan, following a 12-week trial at Preston Crown Court.

A woman – Judy Chapman – was found guilty of Aya’s manslaughter but not guilty of the attempted murder of Pacha Khan

R.I Tyres unit

Driver

Judy Chapman, 26, of St Hubert’s Road, Great Harwood, drove the gunman and driver from Bolton to the Avensis on Wellington Road, Blackburn and collected them afterwards in the afternoon of the shooting.

Police launched a major investigation known as Operation Colindale and in the following days and weeks, 23 people were arrested in connection with the shooting and assisting those involved.

Warrants were executed at various addresses in Lancashire, Manchester and the West Midlands, with enquiries conducted as far as Glasgow, Dublin and London, as well as Spain and Portugal during an international manhunt to locate the gunman, Zamir Raja and driver, Anthony Ennis, who had fled the country.

As the investigation gained momentum and the men’s involvement became clearer due to vast CCTV, telephony and other digital forensic enquiries including the examination of car data, a large team of police officers and staff began to focus in on the eight defendants who were subsequently charged and stood trial.

Five days later on May 6, the planning began.

The plot

Abubakr Satia contacted an associate to arrange to buy a cheap, expendable car, which was to be used in the shooting.

On May 10, he paid £300 for a 53 plate Toyota Avensis, financed by Suleman.

It was in working order but had a battery issue meaning it often needed jump starting.

On the evening before Aya was killed (Saturday, May 16), Zamir Raja and Anthony Ennis met with up with Ayaz Hussain and Feroz Suleman in Blackburn after travelling together to Liverpool in an associate’s car.

At around 6.35pm, the four, driven by Hussain, scoped out and travelled the route the Avensis was to take, meaning that Raja and Ennis – from Manchester – could familiarise themselves with the area ahead of what was due to take place the following day.

Suleman, who had left his mobile phone in his car which was parked up on his street to provide an alibi for his location, was seen on CCTV hanging out of the back of the car when collecting latex gloves from a colleague at another RI Tyres location on Copy Nook.

The Avensis was moved onto a car park on Wellington Road a short time later, ready to be used the next afternoon. It was also where it was to be dumped after the shooting.

Your read about it in the papers

Later that night, Suleman – who had been uncontactable due to his phone being in his car – was contacted by his girlfriend who accused him of being unfaithful.

Kashif Mansoor messaged her to try and explain that Suleman had not cheated on her but instead, they had been up to something, saying “you’ll find out tomorrow probably read it in the papers.”

In a voice note sent to the same woman over Instagram in the early hours of the day of the shooting (Sunday, May 17), Suleman said: “I was actually on a little bit of a mission…”

Later that day at around 1.50pm, Judy Chapman and her boyfriend, Uthman Satia, drove from their home in Great Harwood in her car, a blue Ford Fiesta, to the car park on Wellington Road, where Uthman checked on the Avensis. 

At around 2.25pm, the pair began their journey to collect Raja and Ennis from Bolton. CCTV captured them getting into Chapman’s Fiesta, with Uthman Satia collapsing the passenger seat to allow them access. Ennis was seen carrying two plastic bags, while Raja was also in possession of a separate carrier bag.

At 2.40pm, Kashif Manzoor went to the Wellington Road car park, jumpstarting the Avensis and kept watch of it whilst it was running, ahead of the arrival of Chapman’s Fiesta containing the shooter and driver.

The journey

Whilst on their journey at around 2.45pm, Chapman and her passengers, Uthman Satia, Raja and Ennis met with Ayaz Hussain and Abubakr Satia – in his Range Rover – on Jack Walker Way. Here, it is believed, they were given final instructions. 

Afterwards, the Fiesta continued to Wellington Road, where Zamir Raja and Anthony Ennis exited, getting into the Avensis to carry out their planned execution. They left with Ennis at the wheel and Raja in the back at 2.57pm, driving by Quick Shine on the opposite side of the road.

They went behind RI Tyres, turning around so they would be on the same side of the road as Quick Shine and their target, Pacha Khan. The back window of the car was lowered in preparation.

They drove by a second time, where Mr Khan was stood outside. Feroz Suleman, on the forecourt of RI Tyres, was seen on CCTV looking over his shoulder towards Quick Shine, in anticipation of what was he thought was about to happen. 

The Avensis passed by, turned around in a street behind again, repeating the journey past Quick Shine without incident. Before the final trip, the back-passenger window was again lowered in preparation for the firearm to be aimed and fired.

The shooting

As this was happening, Kashif Manzoor pulled up at RI in his car, parking on the forecourt. He got out, carrying jump leads which are believed to have started the Avensis around 20 minutes previously and was seen on CCTV looking directly at it as the car was driven by a final time.

At 3pm, the Avensis passed Quick Shine on the fourth occasion, slowing down as it travelled by. The gun was pointed towards Mr Khan, fired, and hit one of Quick Shine’s windows. 

It then sped up and a second shot was fired, sadly hitting Aya Hachem.

Mr Khan instantly jumped over a surrounding fence to go and help, whilst Suleman showed little reaction.

Feroz at the scene of murder

The hitmen

Ennis and Raja continued onto Wellington Road, dumped the Avensis and got into Chapman’s Fiesta who, still in company of her boyfriend Uthman Satia, drove them back to Bolton.

Just after the shooting at 3.01pm, Ayaz Hussain and Abubakr Satia visited Rosehill Service Station, filling a jerry can with petrol, which is believed to have been destined for burning out the Avensis.

CCTV

The pair then went back to the scene of the shooting in Satia’s Range Rover, which slowed down as it passed a crowd of people who had rushed to assist Ms Hachem as she lay injured on the ground.

It is thought that the gathering of the public and the responding police patrols deterred the pair from carrying out the plan to burn the Avensis. Instead, they headed away from the scene and Hussain called Feroz Suleman.

Murder investigation

Police flooded the area and located the Avensis within an hour of the shots being fired. A subsequent search revealed an unspent cartridge similar to a bullet found on the forecourt of Quick Shine, in the rear of the car.

As officers went to view CCTV at RI Tyres given the building’s close proximity to Quick Shine, Ayaz Hussain was seen looking visibly shocked when the footage showed Aya being shot.

Suleman then gestured towards the door, walking out of the room with Hussain and Abubakr Satia. The trio walked to an upstairs area but returned to where the CCTV was being watched by officers within minutes. 

Abubakr Satia was still in the room when a voice announced over police radio that the Avensis had been found.

He hastily exited the room and went to speak to Suleman and Hussain, who were now on the forecourt of RI.

They got in Abubakr Satia’s Range Rover and headed in the direction of Wellington Road – where the Avensis had been dumped – before returning.

The arrests

Feroz Suleman was arrested the day after (Monday, May 18), followed by Abubakr Satia on Tuesday, May 19.

His car was seized and whilst police were waiting it for to be collected, Satia’s phone – on the driver’s seat – was remotely wiped.

Specialist officers were, however, later able to recover its contents.

Judy Chapman and Uthman Satia’s arrests followed on Wednesday, May 20, with Ayaz Hussain and Kashif being detained on Thursday, May 21. 

Nine days after Ms Hachem was killed on Tuesday, May 26, Zamir Raja – driven by an associate he intimidated into taking him – travelled to Glasgow Airport and boarded a flight to Dublin, catching a further plane to Lisbon in Portugal.

Three days later (Friday, May 29), Anthony Ennis flew out of Heathrow Airport using a relative’s passport, meeting up with Raja at Lisbon Airport.

The pair booked into a hotel in Marbella on Wednesday, June 3 with Raja boarding a ferry from France to the UK on Friday 5th June. 

He was arrested at Euston Train Station in London the following day (Saturday, June 6), close to a train which was departing to Manchester.

A search of the Nissan Juke which Raja drove to Liverpool with Anthony Ennis on Saturday, May 16, revealed a similar bullet to the one that killed Aya.

Extradited

On Saturday, July 4, Anthony Ennis was arrested by Spanish authorities in Fuengirola.

He was later extradited back to the UK.

Police statement

Senior Investigating Officer, Detective Chief Inspector Zoe Russo from Lancashire’s Force Major Investigation Team (FMIT), said: “I am delighted with the outcome of the trial which is the result of months of challenging and meticulous police work.

Throughout this long and incredibly complex investigation, our focus has been clear: to find the people involved in this most serious course of offending; bring them before the court; and to ensure that Aya’s family receive justice.

“We must, however, not forget that these convictions will not bring Aya back.

Her family continues to mourn her loss. Aya was a remarkable and much loved 19 year old woman.

“Aya and her family had left Lebanon for the safety of England.

Her dream was to qualify and practise as a solicitor.

Ramadan

On the May 17 last year, during the holy month of Ramadan, Aya was going about her daily business when she was shot dead, in the course of a drive-by shooting, by these criminals who were pursuing a vendetta against Pacha Khan, a rival businessman.

“Feroz Suleman ordered the execution of Pacha Khan.

Ayaz Hussain, Suleman’s trusted ally, recruited the gunman, Zamir Raja, and his driver, Anthony Ennis.

The remaining four defendants all played vital roles in this planned execution of Pacha Khan.

Zoe Russo

Senior Investigating Officer, Detective Chief Inspector Zoe Russo from Lancashire’s Force Major Investigation Team (FMIT), said: “I am delighted with the outcome of the trial which is the result of months of challenging and meticulous police work.

Throughout this long and incredibly complex investigation, our focus has been clear: to find the people involved in this most serious course of offending; bring them before the court; and to ensure that Aya’s family receive justice.

“We must, however, not forget that these convictions will not bring Aya back.

Her family continues to mourn her loss. Aya was a remarkable and much loved 19 year old woman.

They sought to avoid detection through a variety of different ways, for example using burner phones, disposing of electronic data and in the case of Raja and Ennis, fleeing the country to mainland Europe.

My team, however, were not deterred, despite the difficulties caused by the pandemic which took them throughout the UK and the continent.

Thankfully, we were able to put together all the numerous pieces of a large jigsaw puzzle and establish the motive behind the shooting and who was involved.

“My thanks go to each and every police officer and member of police staff who relentlessly tracked down these criminals and gathered the evidence, which has helped secure these convictions.

I also wish to express my sincere thanks for the excellent work carried out by CPS lawyer Alan Richardson and Prosecution Counsel; Nicholas Johnson QC (7hs), Alex Langhorn and Matthew Conway.

Aya’s memory

“Finally, my thoughts and sympathies are very much with Aya’s family for the devastating loss they have suffered.

They have had to endure a twelve-week trial and listened to the lies of each of the eight defendants, none of whom showed any responsibility or remorse for their actions. 

“The death of someone we love is excruciating, especially when that person is one’s child.

Aya’s parents will never get over her death.

They will, however, I hope, with time, come to terms with Aya’s passing and rebuild themselves around their loss.

I hope these convictions go some way to laying the foundations for that long rebuilding process”.

Alan Richardson, Senior Crown Prosecutor, added: ‘’Each of these callous conspirators is in their way responsible for the senseless killing of Aya Hachem – an innocent young woman full of promise who lost her life as a result of a petty business rivalry.

“The ruthlessness of everyone involved is staggering, with the group going to extreme lengths to plan an assassination in broad daylight – risking the lives of members of the public going about their daily business. 

“Even when the wrong target was hit, they refused to display any guilt or remorse and denied involvement in this devastating murder.

‘’We would like to thank the police for their meticulous work on this case.

Together the CPS and police were able to build a strong case against each of them by detailed forensic analysis of many hours of CCTV and telephone evidence.

‘’Today our thoughts are with Aya Hachem’s loved ones and we hope they feel justice has now been served.’’

Family’s tribute to ‘beautiful angel’ Aya Hachem 

Aya Hachem has been described as a 'beautiful angel' by her family
Aya Hachem has been described as a ‘beautiful angel’ by her family

Aya’s family have paid the following tribute: “We thank God for the justice that has been served today.

“To our dear beautiful angel in heaven we know you are in a better and more beautiful place. God chose you from amongst many and blessed you with martyrdom.

“We are so proud of you and we miss you so much – our lives are difficult without you. This is God’s decree and praise be to God for this. You will remain in our hearts forever. 

“You loved life and despite all the struggles and barriers that we faced in this country, it did not stop you contributing to your community and charites including the Children’s Society and fundraising at Salford University where you were studying to become a barrister.

“God chose you as an angel in his heaven. Heaven is yours and may God give us the patience after your murder. We love you. 

“We thank Detective Chief Inspector Zoe Russo and her team of dedicated police officers who worked so hard to build a strong case against the defendants who have been convicted today.

“Also, to the Crown Prosecution Service, represented by Mr. Johnson, from the first moments of Aya’s murder until the last moments of the trial.

“We also thank Mr Justice Turner, who managed the court proceedings with confidence and wisdom.

A life was lost because of ego and greed, Suleman had everything he needed but wanted more power and more control.

Sentencing

Suleman, described by the judge as “the driving force behind the whole enterprise from beginning to end”, and Raja, who was to be paid £1,500 for the shooting, were sentenced to a minimum of 34 years in prison for the murder and 28 years for the attempted murder of Khan, to be served concurrently, meaning they will each serve at least 34 years.

Hussain, who introduced the men and was part of the planning of the crime, was sentenced to a minimum of 32 years, with the judge taking into account “at least some level of genuine remorse”.

Four other men from Blackburn were also found guilty and sentenced.

Driver Anthony Ennis, 31, received a sentence of 33 years minimum for his role in the murder, which the judge assumed “had no other motive than gain”.

Accomplice Kashif Manzoor, 26, who took part in the planning and jump-started the Toyota Avensis used for the crime, was sentenced to a minimum of 27 years.

Abubakr Satia, 32, who bought the car for £300, and his brother Uthman Satia, 29, who helped transport the men and helped dispose of evidence, were both given a minimum of 28 years in prison.

Rest in Peace Aya Hachem

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