How trial of Aya Hachem's killer collapsed - and saw a juror applauded out of court

Moments after deliberations in the trial of Aya Hachem's killer Louis Otway began, everything fell apart.

The trial would soon collapse completely. And see a juror applauded as they left the courtroom, LancsLive reports.

While the 42-year-old Otway, nicknamed 'Junior', was found guilty of the murder of the law student last week (March 29), it took two attempts to cage him. He is now set to be sentenced for his role in a bitter tit-for-tat row between rival car washes that cost the life of Aya.

READ MORE: 'Drugs den' that caused misery on Greater Manchester estate closed by court

The 19-year-old was gunned down while walking to the shops. Tragically, she was near the intended target of a gang’s drive-by shooting. The group was instead supposed to shoot car wash owner Pachah Khan.

The teenager was simply caught in the wrong place at the wrong time as she made her way down King Street, Blackburn.

Otway was found guilty of both the murder of Ms Hachem and the attempted murder of Mr Khan following a trial which saw Suhayl Suleman cleared of the same charges. Prosecutors had said he was involved in the plot but a jury found him not guilty.

A trial sat at Preston Crown Court during March and had to be hastily arranged after a first attempt to bring Otway to justice collapsed within a day of the jury being sent to deliberate.

With proceedings complete,LancsLive has revealed that the decision to abandon that trial came after a whistleblowing jury member raised concerns that others in the group had shown racist attitudes and were not capable of making a fair decision.

That trial started with 12 jurors but one was discharged after nine days due to ill-health. It continued with the remaining 11, who retired to consider their