Man, 26, handed eight-year sentence for role in Smethwick shooting

Azeem Hussain, aged 26, was part of a gang that targeted a computer business in Smethwick on January 12, injuring two men in their 40s.

At around midday, a Ford Fiesta pulled up outside City Computers on Bertram Road and a group attacked the business.

Two of them held an axe and two of them had a shotgun.

Shots were fired at the business and the windows and doors were smashed.

One victim was hit in the arm by a gunshot and another victim suffered a neck injury.

West Midlands Police officers were able to place another member of the gang, Jamal Hussain, as the driver of the Ford Fiesta thanks to CCTV footage and mobile phone investigations.

CCTV footage from the previous day showed the gang scouting out the route from their Walsall addresses to Bertram Road and around the area, as well as a number of calls between the gang on the morning of the attack.

Azeem Hussain fled the country soon after the incident, but was arrested at the airport following his return to the UK in April this year.

Hussain, from Walsall, admitted to charges brought against him at a previous hearing and was jailed for eight years at Worcester Crown Court on September 11. 

Five men from Walsall have already been jailed for their part in the attack.

Last August Haider Shabir, aged 21 was jailed for 14 years, Mohammed Uwais Latif, aged 24 was jailed for nine years and ten months and Mohammed Tayyib Wajid, aged 26 was jailed for 21 months.

In April, Ahmed Aumair, aged 21 was jailed for 12 years and six months. Jamal Hussain, aged 22, was jailed for nine years two months in September.

Detective Inspector Francis Nock from our Major Crime Unit said: “All six men involved in this planned armed attack have been convicted and sentenced.

“Azeem Hussain was a key player in this operation and has received a lengthy jail sentences to reflect this.

“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."