Indian-origin man in UK jailed for life for killing 22-year-old student

An Indian-origin man in the UK was on Tuesday jailed for life along with his British accomplice for killing a 22-year-old student who was shot at "point blank range" while travelling in a car as part of a drug-dealing feud last year.

Juskiran Sidhu, 28, and Philip Babatunde Fashakin, 26, must serve at least 30 years in jail before being considered for parole, the Old Bailey court in London ruled.

Judge Nigel Lickley said Hashim Abdalla Ali was "ambushed" and shot at "point blank range" in a "ruthless and brutal act" as part of a drug-dealing feud.

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The duo, who went to the cinema after committing the crime, had been found guilty of the murder of Ali during a trial at the court last week.

"Fashakin and Sidhu carried out a brutal attack which led to a young man losing his life at the side of the road," said Detective Chief Inspector Garry Moncrieff, who led the investigation for the Metropolitan Police.

"They will now have a significant amount of time in which to reflect on their actions and we hope these lengthy sentences bring some kind of closure for Mr Ali's family," he said.

The court heard that on 11 October 2018, Ali was the passenger in a black Mercedes being driven by his friend. The car had just pulled up on Central Avenue, Hayes in the western suburb of London when Fashakin and Sidhu approached and discharged a firearm towards the passenger side of the vehicle, striking Ali.

Following the shooting, the driver of the car drove off in an attempt to get Ali to hospital, during which time it collided with a number of stationary cars on West Drayton Road. A passing ambulance stopped to provide assistance but despite their best efforts Ali was pronounced dead at the scene.

Detectives from the Met Police's Homicide and Major Crime Command began an investigation, including gathering CCTV and mobile phone evidence from the days leading up to and on the day of the murder.

CCTV from 9 October last year showed Fashakin hiring a dark grey Volkswagen Golf from a depot in Reading. The same car was captured arriving in Central Avenue on the day of the murder and again leaving the location just one minute after the shooting is believed to have occurred.

Later that afternoon, the pair were caught on CCTV at a shopping centre where they purchased new clothes and dumped the clothing they had been wearing in a bin outside the shop. They also bought new sim cards and disposed of their old numbers.

On October 30, officers arrested Sidhu at a hotel in Birmingham where he was using a false name. Fashakin was also arrested at a different location in Birmingham just a week later.

Both denied the murder and were remanded into custody before being tried in court for the murder.