A man has been jailed for firearms offences after shots were fired during an armed break-in last year.Azeem Hussain, 26, was part of a gang that targeted a business in Smethwick, in the West Midlands. He has been given an eight-year sentence for his role in the incident.
At around midday on 12 January 2023, a Ford Fiesta pulled up outside City Computers and four men – two holding axes and two with shotguns – jumped out to attack the business.CCTV shows the moment when the two men with axes smashed the windows, while those with guns made their way through an office and opened fire.
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The men smashed their way onto the premises with axes. Pic: West Midlands Police
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Pic: West Midlands Police
One victim was hit on the arm and another suffered a neck injury.
Hussain’s conviction means all six men involved in the attack have now been jailed.Officers determined Jamal Hussain was the driver of the vehicle, while Azeem has been described by the police as “a key player in this operation”.
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He fled the country soon after the incident but was arrested at the airport when he returned to the UK in April.He admitted the charges against him at a previous hearing and was sentenced on Thursday.
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Azeem Hussain Pic: West Midlands Police
Last August, Haider Shabir, aged 21, Mohammed Uwais Latif, 24, and Mohammed Tayyib Wajid, 26, were jailed for their roles in the attack, receiving sentences of 14, nine years and ten months, and 21 months, respectively.In April, Ahmed Aumair, 21, was given a sentence of 12 years and six month in prison. Jamal Hussain, aged 22, was jailed for nine years and two months in September.
Detective Inspector Francis Nock from the West Midland’s Police major crime unit said: “This could have easily been a fatal attack but miraculously, the injuries of the two victims were not serious.”Weapons have no place on our streets and we will continue to bring those to justice who think it’s acceptable to use them to bring violence into our communities.”