Lancashire Police have welcomed the conviction of hitman boss Louis Otway for his role in the murder of Blackburn teenager Aya Hachem in May 2020.

This afternoon (March 29) at Preston Crown Court, a jury found Otway, 42, of Clitheroe Road, Manchester, guilty of the murder of Aya and the attempted murder of Pachah Khan.

Mr Khan, who worked at QuickShine in King Street, Blackburn had been the intended target of a drive-by shooting organised by Otway with a group from a rival firm RI Tyres, but the assassination went wrong, with the bullet missing Mr Khan and striking Aya, 19, killing her.

Otway is the ninth person convicted in connection with Aya’s murder, seven others - Feroz Suleman, Ayaz Hussain, Abubakr Satia, Uthman Satia, Kashif Manzoor, Zamir Raja and Michael Ennis – all for murder and attempted murder, and Judy Chapman for manslaughter.

Speaking following the verdict, DI Ian Moore, of Lancashire Constabulary’s Major Investigation Team, said: “Aya Hachem was a young woman whose life – so full of promise – was brutally and tragically cut short on that May afternoon and my thoughts today are first and foremost with her family and loved ones.

“Louis Otway played a key role in organising the plot to kill Pachah Khan, the bungled execution of which resulted in Aya’s murder, and I would like to thank the jury and the prosecution team for ensuring that he too has been convicted along with those found guilty last year.

“I hope that this 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.”

Otway will be jailed for life on May 5 at a sentencing hearing, with a judge to determine what his minimum term will be before he can be considered for release.

Suhayl Suleman, brother of convicted killer Feroz Suleman, was found not guilty of murder and attempted murder by the jury, and walked free from court.