A would-be hitwoman posted ammunition and gun parts from the US as part of a plan to frame a rival, a court heard.
Aimee Betro, 45, allegedly tried to disguise her appearance and used a fake name when sending three packages containing parts for an AR15 type assault riffle and ammunition wrapped in foil.
Betro sent the items to try to get a man arrested after fleeing the UK in the wake of a botched murder attempt, jurors were told.
She is said to have donned a niqab and a burka and tried to shoot dead a Birmingham shopkeeper outside his home in September 2019.
The gun jammed and the victim, Sikander Ali, 34, was able to escape in his car but she returned hours later to fire three bullets through the window of his family home, Iit is alleged.
Betro, originally from Wisconsin, is said to have been acting on the bequest of two co conspirators Mohammed Nazir, 30, and his father Mohammed Aslam, 56, from Derby, who have already been tried and convicted over the plot.
The two men were involved in a ‘vendetta’ against clothes shop owner called Aslat Mahumad, whose son was Sikander Ali.
Both men lived at an address in Measham Grove, South Yardley where Betro allegedly tried to murder Mr Ali and where she fired bullets through the window.
Aimee Betro in a social media post prior to her arrest. She denies three charges of conspiracy to murder, possessing a firearm with intent to cause fear of violence, and a charge related to the alleged importation of ammunition into the UK
CCTV showing Aimee Betro wearing what appears to be a head covering
CCTV captures the moment a woman in a niqab tries to shoot Sikander Ali, 34, as he arrives home
Betro denies three charges of conspiracy to murder, possessing a firearm with intent to cause fear of violence, and a charge related to the alleged importation of ammunition into the UK.
On the second day of her trial at Birmingham Crown Court on Tuesday, prosecutor Tom Walkling said Betro returned to the US the day after the botched shooting.
Nazir followed afterwards and spent a month in the US before returning to the UK when he was arrested.
He and his father have both been convicted of conspiracy to murder and while Nazir was also convicted of possession of a firearm with intent to cause fear of violence. Both have been jailed.
Betro pictured buying a cheap mobile phone in Birmingham before allegedly carrying out the shootings
Mohammed Aslam, 56, who along with his son, Mohammed Nabil Nazir, 30, have been jailed at Birmingham Crown Court for hiring a hijab-wearing female assassin to carry out a gun attack on a rival family.
Mohammed Nabil Nazir, 30, who has already been jailed at Birmingham Crown Court for hiring a hijab-wearing female assassin to carry out a gun attack on a rival family
CCTV showing Betro arriving at the Rotunda hotel in Birmingham wearing a summer dress, hoodie, rucksack and flip flops
Mr Walkling said Betro was not part of that trial as she was living in Armenia and did not return to the UK until January this year. ‘That is the reason why she is being tried separately,’ he said.
The prosecutor said that while Nazir was in the US and in the days following his return he involved Betro in ‘another of his plots to get revenge on a rival’. This time the target was a man from Derby called Faris Quayum.
Jurors were told Nazir arranged for the three packages to be sent, then called the police to ‘tip them off’ that Mr Quayum was receiving these parcels.
Mr Walkling told the court the plan initially worked, the parcels were intercepted, and Mr Quayum was arrested.
‘But Nazir’s role in framing eventually came to light,’ he said.
Police later found Betro’s DNA on the parcels, which were sent on October 16, 2019, when Nazir was back in the UK, the court heard.
Mr Walkling said: ‘We say that Aimee Betro was the person who sent those parcels. She may not have known the full extent of Nazir’s devious scheme, but when she sent prohibited ammunition into the UK, she broke the law.’
Pictures of the post office from where the parcels were sent were also shown to the court.
Jurors were also shown CCTV from the post office which shows a woman who was ‘keen to hide her identity’.
Mr Walkling said: ‘We say that woman is this defendant, Aimee Betro.’
She used the name Michael Chandler when posting the items, the court heard.
On Monday, jurors were shown CCTV footage of the moment the would be assassin tried to shoot Mr Ali.
Mr Walkling told jurors Betro will deny being the person with the firearm and claims someone else sent the packages.
Mr Walkling said: ‘We say the evidence in this case against Aimee Betro is compelling, is strong. She was the would-be assassin on the 7th September 2019 …. and again she was the person who furthered another of Nazir’s vendettas when she sent ammunition to the UK as part of his plan to frame Mr Quayum.’
The trial continues.
