COVENTRY MESSAGE BOARD

2 men from Coventry have appeared in court charged with the attempted murder of a taxi driver in Berkshire.


East Berkshire magistrates court

The man was shot three times in the chest on his own driveway in Reading in September last year but survived and has since made a full recovery.

Police in Coventry raided seven houses across the city in Binley, Radford, Holbrooks and Foleshill and arrested five men last Thursday.

Two - 35-year old Jaspal Kajla from Hepworth Road in Binley, and 30-year old Amjed Mahmood from May Street in Foleshill have now been charged with attempted murder.

After appearing at East Berkshire Magistrates’ Court they have both been remanded in custody to appear at Reading Crown Court on March 14th, alongside another man 33-year old Imran Khan from Lower Earley who faces the same charge.

Another two men from Coventry - aged 26 and 34 have been released on police bail, while a 27-year old’s been released without charge.

There is going to be a re-trial after a jury failed to decide whether two Coventry men tried to murder a taxi driver last year.

The man was shot three times in the chest on his own driveway in Reading in September last year but survived and has since made a full recovery.

Police in Coventry raided seven houses across the city in Binley, Radford, Holbrooks and Foleshill and arrested five men over it back in March.

Two - Jaspal Kajla from Hepworth Road in Binley, and Amjed Mahmood from May Street in Foleshill – were later charged with attempted murder, along with 33-year old Imran Khan from Lower Earley in Berkshire.

They have been in trial at Reading Crown Court for the past few weeks but a jury has failed to reach a verdict for any of them.

All have pleaded not guilty to attempted murder.

They are set to be tried over it again in March next year and all three have been remanded in custody.

Coventry hitmen get life for plot to murder cabbie



Hired gunmen from Coventry are starting life sentences after shooting a taxi driver three times on his driveway.

Jaspal Kajla, 36, of Hepworth Road, Binley, and Amjed Mahmood, 31, of May Street, Foleshill, were hired by ‘Godfather’ Imran Khan, aged 34, from Reading, to carry out the contract killing of taxi driver Quadir Hussain.

Jurors heard details of a long-running feud over a development on a piece of family-owned land in Pakistan. Khan is a distant relative of Mr Hussein.

Quadir Hussain – described in court as an ordinary family man – was shot as he returned to his home in Wokingham, Berkshire, in September last year atfer a shift as a private hire driver. He survived the ordeal.

At Reading Crown Court yesterday, the three men were found guilty by a jury of conspiring to murder Mr Hussain.

They have been sentenced to life in prison and will serve a minimum of ten and a half years.

Det Chief Insp Steve Tolmie, who led the investigation, said: “This was an isolated and targeted incident. It was a determined and concerted effort by an organised crime gang to kill Mr Hussain.

“He was shot at on three occasions and it is only due to luck that no bullet struck any vital organ or blood vessel.

"This incident could just have easily been a murder investigation.

"The investigation was challenging and complex and we would like to thank those who attended court and provided the necessary evidence to convict these three people.

“We hope that today’s verdict provides some closure for Mr Hussain and his family and will allow them to get on with their lives.”