Two men convicted after shots fired in Smethwick

Two men have been convicted of firearms offences after shots were fired in Smethwick last year.

The pair, from Walsall, were part of a gang that targeted a business in Smethwick last year, injuring two men in their 40s.

Jamal Hussain, aged 22, admitted to possession of a shotgun with intent to endanger life, possession of an offensive weapon and other firearm offences at a hearing at Wolverhampton Crown Court on Friday (2 Aug).

Azeem Hussain, aged 26, admitted to the same charges along with a criminal damage charge last month.

At around midday on 12 January, 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.

Extensive CCTV and mobile phone work by officers placed Jamal Hussain as the driver of the Ford Fiesta and Azeem Hussain as one of the occupants and armed with an axe.

CCTV footage from the previous day, showed the gang scouting out the route from their Walsall addresses to Bertram Road and around the area.

There are also numerous calls between the gang during the morning of the attack.

Both Azeem and Jamal Hussain fled the country soon after the incident.

However, Azeem was arrested from the airport following his return to the UK in April this year and Jamal was similarly detained from the airport in May.

They are both due to be sentenced at a later date.

Four 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 6 months.

Detective Inspector Francis Nock from our Major Crime Unit said: “This was a planned armed attack on a business, which all bubbled down to an ongoing family feud.

“This could have easily been a fatal attack but miraculously, the injuries of the two victims were not serious.

“Officers have worked extremely hard on this investigation and we now have all perpetrators involved convicted.

“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."

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