Gunman jailed for 24 years over church car park shooting

Dramatic footage shows the scene unfolding, with Awais Ahmed, of Burney Lane, stabbed with a machete as he opened fire on Antroye Coley, hitting him once in the chest.

An investigation was launched but it was 'not immediately clear' who was involved or where the violence had unfolded, police said. It is believed that the two used to be friends.

More than 1,000 hours of CCTV footage was recovered and viewed, and it was established that Ahmed and Coley had a chance encounter on Alum Rock Road at around 11.50pm on June 26 last year.

Ahmed, aged 21, quickly left the scene in a Seat Leon, and detectives believe he picked up a gun from a parked car on the nearby Clipston Road. Coley went home to Blossom Grove, Hodge Hill and armed himself with a machete.

He then went looking for Ahmed around the Alum Rock area, before finding him in the Seat on the car park of Christ Church on Burney Lane, Ward End. The spot was known to be popular with Ahmed and his friends.

Coley and Junior Losinho, who had driven him there, were captured on CCTV getting out of their Citroen, with the machete visible in Coley’s hands.

The men are seen creeping up to Ahmed and his friend, Aman Baig, who were sitting in the Leon.

A flash was said to be seen from the back of the car as Ahmed opens fire with a handgun, hitting Coley in the chest.

Coley is then said to have stabbed Ahmed with the machete, before stumbling away and fleeing with Losinho.

The injured men were driven to Heartlands Hospital by their friends – but as the injured men walked in separately, Ahmed's friends spotted Coley and drove him to City Hospital instead.

Reporting restrictions have meant that the details of the case can only be revealed for the first time today.

At Birmingham Crown Court, Awais Ahmed was jailed for 24 years after being found guilty of wounding with intent, and possession of a firearm with intent.

Baig, aged 22, of Clipston Road, was jailed for seven years for possession of a firearm and Losinho, 21, and Coley, 19, both of Blossom Grove, Hodge Hill, have admitted wounding and will be sentenced at a later date.

Det Insp Francis Nock, from our Major Crime Reactive Team, said: "This was appalling violence involving deadly weapons on the streets of Birmingham.

"We don’t know the motivation behind what happened. We believe Ahmed and Coley were previously friends but have fallen out to such a degree that they were willing to inflict serious harm on each other.

"When the men arrived at hospital, neither of them was prepared to say what had happened, so we had to work backwards, starting with CCTV from the hospital, to establish exactly what had happened and where. CCTV played a crucial role in building strong cases against all of those involved.

"The investigation started with very little information but became much clearer thanks to the recovery of painstaking examination of more than 1,000 hours of footage.

"It meant those involved had no choice but to admit they were present when the violence erupted."