A LAW student who was fatally shot in the street went into cardiac arrest just moments after she was struck, a court has heard.

The bullet which the prosecution say was fired by hired hitman Zamir Raja entered into Aya Hachem through her left shoulder before travelling through her body and exiting through the right side of her neck, causing catastrophic damage along the way.

Yesterday, forensic pathologist Naomi Carter gave evidence at Preston Crown Court as the fourth week of the murder trial got underway.

Ms Carter said: “The entry point was on the left shoulder and the exit was on the right side of the neck.

“Once the bullet went into the body, it went through the humerus. It then passed into the chest cavity by passing through and fracturing the left second ribs. It then passed into the left chest cavity, went through the top of the left lung and then damaged a blood vessel in the neck.”

Ms Carter has explained how that blood vessel is one of the main ones coming from the aorta.

The bullet then damaged an artery in the right side of Aya’s neck before it passed out through the back part of the right side of the neck – creating the exit wound.

Earlier on in the trial the jury were told about how the bullet which had passed through Aya then became lodged in a wooden telegraph pole on King Street, were the fatal shooting took place.

Aya’s cause of death, the jury were told, was as a result of the gunshot wound which caused severe blood loss and injury.

Eight people stand trial accused of murdering the teenager and attempting to kill a second man, Pachah Khan.

They are Feroz Suleman, of, Blackburn; Zamir Raja, of Stretford, Greater Manchester; Anthony Ennis, of Partington, Greater Manchester; Kashif Manzoor, of, Blackburn; Ayaz Hussain, of Blackburn; Abubakr Satia, of Blackburn; Uthman Satia, of Great Harwood; and Judy Chapman, of Great Harwood.

The prosecution say that Suleman, who owns RI Tyres next door to Quickshine Tyres in King Street, Blackburn, hatched a plan to have his neighbour Pachah Khan killed after the pair had become embroiled in a year-long feud over business matters.

However it was Aya who was fatally struck by a bullet which the crown say was fired by hitman Raja, who had been sitting in the backseat of Toyota Avensis driven by Ennis.

It is the prosecution’s case that all eight defendants played an important role in killing Aya.