US Woman Jailed 30 Years for Failed Birmingham Assassination Plot

A 45-year-old US woman has been jailed for 30 years after attempting to murder the son of a Birmingham shop owner in a botched shooting six years ago.

Former admin worker Aimee Betro, from Wisconsin, tried to shoot Sikander Ali at point-blank range outside his Yardley home on 7 September 2019, but the pistol she used failed to fire. Hours later she returned and fired three shots at the empty property. The would-be assassin was part of a revenge plot orchestrated by Mohammed Nabil Nazir, 31, and his father Mohammed Aslam, 56, from Derby. The feud followed a violent 2018 altercation at the clothing store of Mr Ali’s father, Aslat Mahumad, which left the Aslam family injured.

The Crime

Betro met Nazir via a dating app and developed a close personal relationship. The music lover and wannabe deejay made three trips to the UK in nine months, including for Christmas 2018, May 2019, and August 2019. Evidence presented in court showed that by the time she arrived in August 2019, she had been recruited into the plot, motivated by infatuation with Nazir.

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CCTV footage captured Betro waiting outside Measham Grove for Mr Ali’s return. Wearing a niqab to conceal her identity, she approached him with a Highpoint C9 pistol —generally known as anything but a premium firearm. The gun jammed, allowing Mr Ali to escape. Betro also sent taunting text messages to Mr Ali’s father, warning him of her intent. She told them to “stop playing hide and seek”. The family she was trying to kill ignored her demands and when, in the early hours of the following day, she returned in a taxi and fired three rounds towards the house, nobody was at home. Bullets entered an upstairs windows of the property, damaging a mirror.

After the failed attempt, Betro returned to the US with Nazir. They later hatched a plan to ship ammunition and firearm parts to the UK, intending to frame another associate of Nazir’s. Betro was eventually tracked down in Armenia after five years on the run and extradited to the UK earlier this year.

Court Proceedings & Sentence

Betro was convicted by a jury earlier this month of three offences: conspiracy to murder, possession of a firearm with intent to cause fear of violence, and fraudulent evasion of a prohibition on the importation of ammunition.