Woman jailed for helping provide false alibis for two of Blackburn law student Aya Hachem’s killers
A woman who helped provide false alibis for two of Aya Hachem's killers has been jailed.
Salford University student Aya Hachem was said to be "in the wrong place at the wrong time" when she was caught in the crossfire of a feud between rival tyre firms around 3pm on 17 May 2020 whilst walking along King Street, Blackburn.
On the day Aya was murdered, Cally Bainbridge drove to Bolton to meet Zamir Raja and Anthony Ennis to collect their mobile phones from them.
After, she drove to South Manchester and switched the phones on. Ennis' phone was turned on in Partington, where he lived.
Bainbridge then drove to Sale to turn Raja's phone on in order to create the impression that Zamir Raja and Anthony Ennis were not in Blackburn when the shooting of Aya took place, therefore providing the duo with a false alibi.
Aya was killed by Zamir Raja who was sitting in the back of a Toyota Avensis that was driven by Anthony Ennis.
Zamir Raja fired two shots from the car which was being driven past company Quickshine Tyres.
Her target was Pachah Khan, the proprietor of Quickshine Tyres.
Zamir Raja’s first shot hit one of the windows of Quickshine Tyres with the second hitting Aya Hachem.
The shooting was a result of a long-running feud between the owner of RI Tyres Feroz Suleman and Pachah Khan, the owner of Quickshine Tyres.
Aya had no connection to any of the business owners, their companies or the people involved.
Eight people were sentenced in August 2021 after being convicted of their roles in the shooting.
In March, another man Louis Otway was found guilty of both the murder of Aya Hachem and the attempted murder of Pachah Khan.
In May, 42-year-old Otway of Clitheroe Road in Manchester, was sentenced to life in prison with a minimum term of 32 years.
Cally Bainbridge of Moss Road in Manchester, pleaded guilty to Conspiracy to pervert the course of justice and was jailed at Preston Crown Court for 23 months.
She is the last person to be sentenced in connection with Aya’s death.
Det Insp Ian Moore, of the Force Major Investigation Team, said: “Today’s sentence is the conclusion of what has been one of the most complex, widespread and meticulous investigations that Lancashire Police has ever undertaken.
“As an investigation team, our aim was always clear; to get justice for Aya –a young woman whose life was so full of promise and which was brutally and tragically cut short on that May afternoon.
"My thoughts today are first and foremost with her family and loved ones.
“I hope that this final sentence, along with those previously convicted and sentenced. offers Aya’s family some sense that we have achieved justice for her and that this shows that Lancashire Constabulary will never give up in our tenacious approach to putting those who commit these atrocious crimes before the courts.”