Aimee Betro, 45, of Wisconsin, was convicted at Birmingham Crown Court of conspiracy to murder, possession of a firearm with intent to cause fear of violence, and importation of ammunition. Her conviction followed a two-week trial earlier this month, during which jurors heard how she flew to Britain in 2019 to target Sikander Ali, a man who had been in conflict with the family of her associate, Mohammed Nabil Nazir, and his father, Mohammed Aslam.
The court was told that Ms. Betro, dressed in a niqab, waited outside Mr. Ali’s home in Birmingham’s Small Heath neighborhood on Sept. 7, 2019. She confronted him with a firearm at close range. The gun malfunctioned, allowing Mr. Ali to escape. Days later, she returned and fired several rounds into his home. No one was injured in either incident.
After the failed shooting, Ms. Betro left Britain and spent several years in hiding abroad. She was eventually traced to Armenia, where she was arrested in 2024 and extradited to Britain to face trial.
Prosecutors described the episode as the culmination of a longstanding dispute between the Nazir and Ali families, which dated back to an altercation in 2018. The Nazir family recruited Ms. Betro after she developed a relationship with Mr. Nazir.
In sentencing, Judge Melbourne Inman emphasized the calculated nature of the attack. He noted that while the attempt did not succeed, it left the intended victim and his family deeply shaken. “This was a planned and deliberate effort to end a man’s life,” the judge said, adding that Ms. Betro’s actions demonstrated a “grave disregard for human safety.”
Police investigators said Ms. Betro had no significant criminal record before the incident. Her decision to travel from the United States to Britain to commit violence, they said, showed how a private dispute escalated into a transnational case involving firearms and organized planning.
The case, which drew international attention after Ms. Betro’s arrest, highlights the increasingly complex challenges faced by law enforcement in tackling crimes that cross borders and involve individuals with no prior history of serious offending.
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