Accused says she was in UK to celebrate birthday, not for an assassination

TARGET OF ATTACK MANAGED TO ESCAPE AFTER GUN JAMMED, COURT IS TOLD

- By MATTHEW COOPER

AN American woman alleged to have been involved in a failed assassination attempt in the UK plotted by a Derby pair has told a jury she flew into the country to celebrate her birthday and attend a boat party.

Aimee Betro, 45, is alleged to have flown from Wisconsin as part of a plot orchestrated by co-conspirators Mohammed Aslam, 56, and Mohammed Nabil Nazir, 31, of Elms Avenue in Derby, to attack a rival family on September 7, 2019.

A trial has heard allegations that Betro disguised her appearance with a niqab when she tried to shoot Sikander Ali at point blank range outside his home in Measham Grove, Birmingham, but the gun jammed, allowing Mr Ali to flee.

Giving evidence in her defence on Monday, Betro, from Wisconsin, told Birmingham Crown Court she had slept with Nazir at an Airbnb during a visit to the UK spanning December 2018 and January 2019.