Aya Hachem was just nine years old when she and her family arrived in the UK. Fleeing war and conflict in Lebanon, they sought refuge in Blackburn.
They had made the difficult decision to leave their home behind after Aya's father was shot in crossfire. Within five years of arriving in Lancashire, Aya was described as 'a beacon of hope'.
By the age of 14, she sat with her parents on a panel to help traumatised refugees. She spoke little of her own trauma, but her early life, and journey to supposed safety left its mark on her, as she planned a career in international law.
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At school, Aya - the oldest of four siblings - excelled and she was awarded student of the year at Blackburn Central High School in 2016. By the age of 16 she was appointed the Children's Society's youngest ever trustee for her humanitarian work, Lancs Live reports.
In 2019 - about ten years after arriving in the UK - Aya's father Ismail was awarded British citizenship. “I thought we would be safe here”, he said. “This small town, no big problems…. All my dreams were Aya. Everything Aya.”
By May 2020, Aya had completed her second year of her law degree at Salford University. Her future was filled with hope. But on a quiet street in Blackburn, on May 17, 2022, the family was torn apart when Aya too was caught in crossfire. However it was not a war which claimed the life of the promising student but a row between rival business owners over the sale of tyres in the town.
That month, Aya’s family joined Muslims across the world to observe the holy month of Ramadan. On May 17, after fasting from dawn, Aya, the oldest of four siblings, set off from home to buy food from Lidl, to break the fast at sunset.
When she did not return home, the family began to worry. Ismail tried phoning his daughter but the calls rang out. When he set off to try to find her he came upon the police cordon - unaware that he was faced with the scene of his daughter’s death.
It wasn’t long before the devastating truth emerged. Two police officers knocked on the door of the family home to break the terrible news that Aya had been shot.
As she walked down King Street, two shots were fired from a Toyota Avensis - the first hitting a window at Quickshine Car wash, and the second hitting Aya. The bullet passed through Aya’s body before becoming embedded into a telegraph pole.
Some say Aya was in the wrong place at the wrong time, but as prosecutor David Mclachlan said: “She was in the right place at the right time - she should have been able to go shopping without being shot.”
As officers from Lancashire Police began investigating the killing, which happened in broad daylight, a chilling and complex murder plot emerged. Aya was not the intended target, but merely happened upon the scene of a planned assassination that Sunday afternoon. The deadly bullet was intended for Pachah Khan, owner of Quick Shine Car Wash, and was the culmination of a long running feud between Mr Khan and the owners of the neighbouring tyre business R I Tyres.
In early 2019, Mr Khan expanded his business and began selling tyres, in direct competition with the tyre firm next door. Petty squabbles between Mr Khan and the owners of RI Tyres, Feroz and Sohayl Suleman, began to draw police attention, but amounted to little more than attempts to steal customers. Over time, the bad blood built up and in December 2019, someone set fire to RI Tyres. The arsonist was never caught, but the Suleman brothers were convinced it was the work of Mr Khan.
On April 19, Feroz Suleman called the police to report that eight men were fighting with stones, and one had a bat. The police tried to mediate and it was agreed a barrier needed to be erected between the two businesses.
But on on May 1, workmen who visited RI Tyres to erect the fence were met by Mr Khan who threatened to fetch a machete from a car to see them off. Mr Khan later told police Feroz Suleman said he would finish his business off, burn it down, and threatened to kill him during this exchange.
It would seem this incident was the final straw in the feud, and a plot to kill Mr Khan was concocted. Feroz Suleman was at the heart of the conspiracy. He and his ‘right hand man’ Ayaz Hussain called upon Louis Otway to help orchestrate the shooting, while taking care to distance themselves from anything which could link them to the crime.
Hussain was a regular associate of Otway, a Manchester-based criminal with access to guns - and people willing to use them. By early May, 2020, the plot was coming together with plans to acquire a ‘disposable’ car to be used in a drive-by shooting. Zamir Raja was recruited as the gunman with Anthony Ennis brought in to drive the car.
At every step, conspirators attempted to distance themselves. Abubakir Satia was to purchase the vehicle from Wellington Mills Garage in Blackburn, and when the £300 vehicle wouldn’t start, Kashir Manzoor set to work jump-starting it. Hussain acted as the go-between between the Feroz Suleman, and the ‘hit-squad’ Raja and Ennis. Uthman Satia and his girlfriend Judy Chapman were to take Raja and Ennis to the Toyota Avensis and drive them away from the scene of the shooting.
On May 17, Feroz Suleman took a ringside seat in King Street to witness his business rival’s demise. But despite the careful planning, the plot was doomed from the start. The car, which was to be used and then burnt out, wouldn’t start. When it eventually drove past Quick Shine, at 3pm, the bullet missed Mr Khan, and Aya, an innocent bystander, was gunned down. Pachah Khan vaulted over the railings of his business premises to help Aya but it was too late. As the gunmen fled the scene, Aya lay fatally wounded on the ground.
By the time Ayaz Hussain had walked to R I Tyres, Feroz Suleman was in the office with police officers. The entire incident had been captured on his own CCTV.
In August 2021, Feroz Suleman, Ayaz Hussain, Zamir Raja, Anthony Ennis, Kashif Manzoor, Abubakir Satia and Uthman Satia were sentenced to life after being found guilty of Aya’s murder and the attempted murder of Pachah Khan. Judy Chapman was sentenced to 15 years in October 2021 after being cleared of murder and attempted murder but convicted of Aya’s manslaughter.
This week Louis Otway was found guilty of Aya’s murder and the attempted murder of Mr Khan. He will be sentenced on May 5. Sohayl Suleman, Feroz’s brother, was cleared of any involvement in the conspiracy, after the jury accepted he was out of the country and played no part in the plot.
But although justice has been served, the heartbreak for Aya’s family continues. In November 2021, Aya's family collected her posthumous degree from Salford University. Her brother Ibrahim told the BBC: "We are very sad as we would rather she was here with us. We knew she was going to graduate. It was going to be easy for her. She was very hard-working and an amazing individual.”
"It has been unbelievably tough. Words cannot describe it. She was just from another world for us. She was like an angel."
In a victim impact statement, her mother said the murderers' actions had "killed her whole family" and "taken a piece of my soul".
"Aya's dream was to help victims and the oppressed. We all dreamt of her graduation day," said Samar Salame. "She was studying law at Salford University. She had completed her first year and sat on the board of the Children's Society, resulting in her being appointed as one of the trustees. She was even involved in an event hosted by a MP on the effects of cyberbullying on young people. The day of her murder I sent her to buy groceries during Ramadhan. How can I live with myself and the guilt I feel?
"Not knowing that day I would never see her beautiful smile or hear her warm laughter ever again. How can we continue the imperfect life that is full of emptiness, loss and pain? A year has gone by since my little girl was murdered in such horrific circumstances. We fled our country to seek security and safety. We didn't find this. They have taken a piece of my soul and killed my dreams and crushed them into pieces."
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