A self-confessed cocaine addict accused of being involved in a plot to kill a rival business owner which saw 19-year-old Aya Hachem shot dead has appeared in the witness box to give evidence in his defence.
Suhayl Suleman, 38, of Shear Brow in Blackburn, told Preston Crown Court today (Tuesday, October 25) how his addiction had led to a fallout between him and his brother Feroz Suleman and saw him lose his job at RI Tyres.
Law student Aya, 19, was killed on May 17, 2020 as she walked by Quick Shine Car Wash on King Street, Blackburn, and was struck by a stray bullet, shot from a passing Toyota Avensis.
Seven men, including Suleman’s older brother Feroz Suleman, have already been found guilty of murder in a trial last year and jailed for life. One woman was found guilty of manslaughter.
Suleman and Louis Otway, of Clitheroe Road, Manchester, both face trial for their alleged involvement in Aya's death. They also face trial for the attempted murder of Pacha Khan.
The prosecution says that Suleman organised and arranged the hit on Pacha Khan and was ‘in a similar position to his brother’.
They say that Otway was involved in organising and arranging to shooting and was ‘the link between Ayaz Hussain and his boys, Zamir Raja and Anthony Ennis’.
Suleman’s defence began on the ninth day of the murder trial.
Giving evidence, he told the court how he knew some of the defendants who were found guilty in a previous trial.
He said he had been friends with Ayaz Hussain for about 20 years, having gone to school together.
Suleman told the court Abubakr Satia was a friend who he bought cocaine from, as was his brother Uthman Satia.
Suleman said he became friends with Kashim Manzoor after he came in as a customer to the shop but the pair fell out when Manzoor started telling Feroz about his cocaine addiction.
He denied knowing Zamir Raja, Anthony Ennis or Judy Chapman. He also denied knowing Louis Otway who is also standing trial.
Suleman was asked about his education which saw him drop out of De Montford University in Leicester in around 2003 or 2004 when his father asked him to come and help with the tyre business which at the time was owned by his father and uncle.
He took a year out from his studies and during that year his father died. Suleman said he never returned to university and that he and his two brothers took over the business, with Feroz becoming a father figure to him.
READ MORE: Aya Hachem: Suhayl Suleman and Louis Otway on trial for murder
Suleman, who also has a sister, said that during their time in ownership, the business continued to grow and that they extended the Copy Nook site before opening another premises on Burnley Road and then a shisha bar in Manchester.
Suleman said that because of difficulties running all the businesses, they closed the shisha bar down to concentrate on the tyre business, and the family opened the King Street site.
Questioning him, Suleman’s defence counsel, Sanjeev Sharma asked: "Who was running King Street?”
Suleman replied: "My brother Feroz Suleman.”
Mr Sharma asked: "What part of the business were you involved in?”
Suleman said: "I was running Burnley Road and I was involved in the mechanics."
Suleman said he also learnt how to wrap cars in Dubai and that he brought this to the Burnley Road business before his fall out with Feroz.
Mr Sharma said: "Now as far as your involvement with RI Tyres, I would like to know in May 2020, what was your involvement?”
Suleman said: "I had no involvement to part of the business.”
Mr Sharma asked: "Why was that?”
Suleman replied: "Me and my brother fell out and he had thrown me out of the business.”
Suleman went on to say that Feroz threw him out because of his cocaine addiction.
He told the court he was going through depression which is why he started taking the drug.
He said his struggles were due to him becoming bankrupt, being in a car accident and that he was struggling to have a child with his wife at the time.
Mr Sharma: "Did that [cocaine] affect your ability to work at RI tyres?
Suleman: "Yes because I was sleeping during the day and was awake during the night.”
After the blaze broke out in the early hours of December 3, 2019 at RI Tyres, Suleman said his brothers asked him to go down to the site.
His presence led to an argument between him and Feroz who called him a 'crack head' and a 'waste man', with Suleman punching his older brother.
Suleman was also asked about a journey he made to Manchester, also in December 2019, which saw his car outside Louis Otway’s home on Clitheroe Road.
Suleman told the court that he travelled to Manchester with his wife to go for a haircut at the barbers on the curry mile before driving to find somewhere to park outside a shisha bar nearby.
While trying to park, he says he was stopped by Ayaz Hussain who asked if he could take his brother for a ‘spin’ in the car, which Suleman allowed.
Mr Sharma said it was during this time that the car stopped outside Otway’s house.
The court was then shown texts between Hussain and Suleman, with Hussain appearing to thank him for letting him borrow the car.
The trial continues.
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