Usman Khan and Amaan Ajaz : Birmingham men found guilty of Washwood Heath drive-by shooting

Two men have been convicted after the shooting of a man in Birmingham.

Usman Khan and Amaan Ajaz were found guilty of attempted murder and assisting an offender after the shooting of a 32-year-old man in Washwood Heath on 30 April last year.

West Midlands Police were called after the man presented himself at Heartlands Hospital with gunshot wounds to his stomach and leg.

He had been travelling in a VW Golf in Shaw Hill Road when another car, a silver Toyota, pulled up alongside them and opened fire.

Officers tracked the movements of the car and the men in it, watching them get into a different car, a Seat, in Whitacre Road.

This car belonged to Amaan Ajaz, who drove them around the city until the trail was lost.

Following forensics work on the abandoned car, Ajaz was stopped driving the Seat on 5 May and arrested on suspicion of attempted murder along with the other occupants.

Clothing was found in the Seat and forensic work on the items found helped officers identify Usman Khan.

Despite Khan fleeing to Pakistan on 10 May, he was arrested by officers in October after returning to Birmingham via Dubai.

Both Khan, 22 and Ajaz, 20, denied everything in interviews, with Ajaz attempting to claim he was simply running errands for a friend on the night, taking their clothes to a launderette in Northfield.

Khan remained silent throughout his whole interview, answering “no comment” to all questions, confirmed police.

Despite this, officers were able to put together a compelling case against the two, leading to them being charged with attempted murder on 5 October last year.

The pair were convicted at Birmingham Crown Court today (26 April) and will be sentenced at a later date.

Detective Inspector Francis Nock, from the West Midlands Police Major Crimes Unit, said: “This was a brazen attempt on a man’s life which could easily have led to his death.

“Thanks to the hard work of all the officers involved, we were able to identify, locate and arrest Khan and Ajaz.

“Firearms have no place on our streets and we are committed to tracking down and arresting those who would use them to commit crimes.”