Who was Aya Hachem and what happened to the law student?

AYA Hachem was a university student who was murdered in a dispute between two rival tyre dealerships.

Her tragic death will be explored in Channel 5’s The Incident Room, a programme which examines some of Britain’s biggest murder cases.

Aya’s tragic murder

Aya moved to the UK in 2011 from Lebanon and began studying law at the University of Salford, Greater Manchester while volunteering for the Children’s Society.

On May 17, 2020, Aya was shot and killed just 100 metres from her family home, which she shared with her mum Samar, her dad Ismail and her three siblings.

She was just 19 years old at the time of the murder and was heading to her local supermarket to buy food for when her family would break their Ramadan fast.

Paramedics had rushed to the scene but were unable to save Aya.

Aya’s killers are revealed

The cause of the murder initially remained a mystery, but police soon discovered CCTV footage of the attack.

They had surveyed over 88,000 hours of footage before finding a video which showed the killer’s face.

A Toyota Avensis was clearly seen to have driven Zamir Raja to the scene, where he shot Aya.

However, it was later revealed that Aya had not been Raja’s target.

Instead, he was hoping to murdered Pachah Khan as part of a long-running feud between two tyre dealerships.

Raja had been hired by Feroz Suleman of RI Tyres to murder Pachah Khan, who owned Quickshine Tyres.

Footage revealed that Suleman had accompanied Raja to the murder, with the hope of having a “ringside seat”; to the shooting.

Both men were arrested, with the CCTV footage showing Raja’s shocked expression when he realised that he was being filmed.

Aya’s killers face justice

In court, seven men were found guilty of being involved in Aya’s murder.

A jury took just four hours to convict Raja and his driver Anthony Ennis, before also finding Kashif Manzoor, Ayaz Hussain, Abubakr Satia and Uthman Satia guilty.

Judy Chapman, who had driven Ennis and Raja away from the crime scene, was convicted of manslaughter and handed a 15-year sentence.

Raja was handed a life sentence and Ennis was put behind bars for 33 years.

Suleman received a minimum term of 34 years.

Aya’s family speaks out

Aya’s dad Ismail Hachem took to Facebook to mourn his daughter and thank the lawyer who helped prosecute her killers.

Ismail wrote: “My strong daughter lawyer Aya Ismail Hachem God's mercy on your pure soul.

“Hey who broke our back with your horizon you were all dream, science and morals.

“Oh Allah, inspire us with patience and solace.”;

Aya's family also released a statement after the conviction.

They wrote: “To our dear beautiful angel in heaven we know you are in a better and more beautiful place.

“We are so proud of you and we miss you so much – our lives are difficult without you.”

The family were invited to receive Aya’s law degree at what would have been her graduation ceremony.

One Voice Blackburn also renamed its Young Person of the Year award in Aya’s honour.

The Incident Room

The events leading up to Aya’s murder, as well as the hunt to catch her killers, will be explored in Channel 5’s The Incident Room.

Each episode of the series is focused on a particular murder and features exclusive interviews with detectives who helped to crack each case.

The episode focused on Aya, entitled Shooting in Cold Blood, will air on April 2, 2025, at 8pm.