'Wrong place at the wrong time': UK court told innocent student was killed by hitman hired to end feud

Prosecutors say Lebanese victim Aya Hachem was hit by bullet intended for boss of tyre company

Aya Hachem was shot dead as she walked to a shop in Blackburn, north-west England. Lancashire Police.

A teenage law student was shot dead by a hitman hired to end a feud between two rival tyre companies, a court was told.

Aya Hachem, 19, was in the wrong place at the wrong time when the dispute between the businesses in Blackburn, north-west England, reached a deadly conclusion, Preston Crown Court was told.

The hitman, Zamir Raja, was brought from Manchester to try to kill the head of Quickshine Tyres and fired two shots as he was driven past the business in May last year, with one bullet hitting Hachem.

The trial started on Thursday of eight people accused of murdering Hachem, who moved with her family from Lebanon to the UK more than a decade ago, The Times reported.

The shooting was the culmination of a long-running dispute between Feroz Suleman, the owner of RI Tyres, and Quickshine boss Pachah Khan, the apparent target of the hit.

The trial heard that the companies were based next to each other in Blackburn and the feud started in 2019 when Quickshine started selling tyres having previously been a car-wash.

They accused each other of stealing customers and a fire was started at RI Tyres as the dispute escalated. Arson and death threats were exchanged and a police-brokered effort to resolve the row failed.

Prosecutor Nicholas Johnson said that each of the eight in the dock were accused of playing a part.

"Raja was a hitman brought in from south Manchester to do a job,” he said. “Raja's intended target, or one of his intended targets, was Pachah Khan.”

He said Hachem had nothing to do with any of the feuding parties. “She was simply unlucky,” he said. “She was in the wrong place at the wrong time.”

The eight, including Mr Suleman, 40, of Blackburn and Mr Raja, 33, deny murder and the attempted murder of Mr Khan.
The trial continues.