'Assassin' trial: It was not me - it's coincidence

AN American woman accused of a botched murder plan in Birmingham today told jurors “it wasn’t me” and said the evidence was a ‘coincidence.

- STEPHANIE BALLOO News Reporter

US citizen Aimee Betro is alleged to have worn a burka disguise as she went to shoot Sikander Ali, only for her gun to jam outside his home in Measham Grove, Yardley, on September 7, 2019.

The 45-year-old is alleged to have returned to the house a few hours later and fired three bullets at his property.

She denies conspiracy to murder, possessing a firearm and fraudulently evading a prohibition on the importation of ammunition.

Betro, appearing in the dock, denied involvement and told Birmingham Crown Court she never had a gun in her possession. She told jurors she had been around the corner minutes after the shooting in what she said was a “terrible coincidence”.

Betro’s defence was that another ‘unidentified’ American woman, who also knew Nazir and was in Birmingham at the same time, was responsible.

Prosecutors said the attack was a ‘revenge’ plot against Ali’s father Aslat Mahumad, devised by rival father and son Mohammed Aslam and Mohammed Nazir, from Derby. Jurors have been told they were previously convicted of conspiracy to murder.

Betro said she met Nazir on a dating app before moving their conversation to Snapchat. She slept with Nazir on her first of three visits to the UK, had feelings for him as he was “charming and sweet” and was “in love with him”.