US woman jailed 30 years for Birmingham murder conspiracy

A US woman who travelled to Birmingham disguised in a niqab to carry out a planned hit on a rival family was jailed for 30 years after being found guilty of conspiracy to murder and related firearms offences. Aimee Betro, 45, attempted to shoot Sikander Ali outside his home in a Birmingham cul-de-sac in September 2019, but the weapon jammed at point-blank range. She later returned and fired three shots into the family home before fleeing the country. Betro’s conviction followed a three-week trial in which jurors heard the plot was orchestrated by Mohammed Aslam and his son Mohammed Nazir, men already jailed for their roles in the scheme after a feud over a clothing shop incident in 2018.

The court heard Betro met Nazir, who was based in Derby, on a dating app in 2018 and communicated with him via encrypted messages before flying to the UK on Christmas Day that year. She returned to Britain in August 2019 and travelled around the country before committing the crime in the Yardley area of Birmingham. The first attempt on Mr Ali’s life occurred as he arrived home in his vehicle; Betro approached with a pistol but the firearm malfunctioned, allowing him to speed away. Hours later...