A quintet who helped four friends carry out a ‘Western’ style shooting have been jailed for 11 years.
The five men included two who travelled from Oxford to Derby ahead of the shooting on May 12, 2020.
Sentencing them at Derby Crown Court this morning, Judge Nirmal Shant QC said: “Importantly, I sentence each of you on the basis, accepted by the Crown, that you did not know that a firearm had been discharged but you knew that the principals you assisted had committed an indictable offence.”
On Friday, the man who blasted four of the five bullets at intended victim Pirisad Hashmi, Andre Bushay, was handed more than seven-and-a-half years for conspiracy to possess a firearm with intent and dangerous driving.
His co-conspirators, planner Ismail Hussain and helper Abdullah Mohammed, were each jailed for seven years and two months.
READ MORE: Shooter bragged about firing gun at friend's rival
Ismail Hussain, Andre Bushay, Abdullah Mohammed Pictures: DERBYSHIRE CONSTABULARY / THAMES VALLEY POLICE
The court heard that Hussain wanted to scare Mr Hashmi, who he believed had been threatening his mum over an unpaid drugs debt supposed owed by Hussain.
He recruited his cousin, Daniyal Riasat, and other Oxford men Bushay and Mohammed, to help him enact the plan.
The Oxford group travelled north in separate cars on May 11 and May 12, 2020, Hussain having come down to the university city on May 5. Arrangements had already been made to collected a ‘clean’ VW Golf from Bradford to be used in the shooting.
On the day of the shooting, May 12, Hussain spoke to Mr Hasmi and arranged to meet him outside a secondary school in Moorway Lane, Derby, later that day.
At 5.26pm, the Golf containing Hussain and Oxford stooges Daniyal Riasat, Abdullah Mohammed and Andre Bushay parked up in wait in Moorway Lane, where the shooting later took place.
Armed police swooped on one of the Oxford conspirators in Saunders Road in 2020 Picture: SUBMITTED
Little more than 20 minutes later, Mr Hashmi arrived for the meeting. He said he was guided towards bushes by Hussain then confronted by balaclava-clad gunmen. His driver shouted a warning and he returned to his car. Five gunshots were heard.
Michelle Heeley QC, prosecuting, said: “There were civilians, dog walkers, parents in that area, bullets were being fired like something from a Western, it’s a miracle no one was hurt or killed.”
READ MORE: Derby police drive more than 100 miles to make arrest
In the wake of the shooting, getaway driver Nuuman Hussain drove Ismail from the scene. Mohammed Zen and Hamza Qamar arranged for the VW Golf used in the shooting to be collected. Omar Ali and Zain Riasat were said to have been there to assist with disposing of evidence; they were not present for the shooting.
Ms Heeley said: “The Crown cannot prove that these men knew that a shooting had taken place, but by their own pleas they knew or suspected that the named offence, or another arrestable offence had taken place. Certainly they were trusted to assist the gunmen.”
Omar Ali and Zain Riasat Pictures: DERBYSHIRE CONSTABULARY
Omar Ali, 23, of Saunders Road, Oxford, Zain Riasat, 25, of Outram Road, Oxford, Numaan Hussain Khan, 27, of Crewe Street, Normanton, Mohammed Zen, 27, of Stone Hill Road, Normanton, and Hamza Shahzad, 24, of Chestnut Avenue, Derby, pleaded guilty to assisting an offender.
Oxford men Omar Ali and Zain Riasat were each jailed for 19 months.
Getaway driver Numaan Hussain received 17-and-a-half-months. The judge described him as playing a pivotal role: “It must have been obvious to you that a serious offence had taken place that required Ismail Hussain to be taken to Oxford well away from the scene.”
Numaan Hussain, Mohammed Zen, Hamza Shahzad Picture: DERBYSHIRE CONSTABULARY
Mohammed Zen, who arranged for the Golf to be picked up by a recovery truck after the shooting was given 17 months
Shahzad, who was also dealt with for supplying class A drugs on the street, was sentenced to a total of three years.
Daniyal Riasat is yet to be sentenced.
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