Murderer screams 'I'm innocent' as he's jailed for life over killing of innocent student Aya Hachem

A man has been jailed for life for the murder of innocent student Aya Hachem.

Louis Otway, 42, was yesterday (May 4) convicted for his role in the botched murder plot which saw Aya, 19, killed by a stray bullet in King Street. At Preston Crown Court today, he was jailed for life with a minimum term of 32 years.

As Otway, of Clitheroe Road, Manchester, was sent down, he shouted 'I'm innocent, this is a miscarriage of justice!'', LancsLive reports. Aya, a promising University of Salford student, was caught in the crossfire of a feud between rival tyre firms on Sunday May 17, 2020.

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When hostility flared up between RI Tyres and Quick Shine car wash, Otway was called in to help settle a score. Feroz Suleman, who ran RI Tyres, called upon Otway to help orchestrate the shooting of Pashah Khan, who ran Quick Shine next door.

However the plot went wrong and Aya was wrongfully shot. The student was an innocent bystander, who was walking to a nearby shop to buy food to break the Ramadan fast with her family.

Otway was convicted of her murder and the attempted murder of Mr Khan. Although he protested his innocence as he was sent down, in a statement read by his defence barrister in court today he said: "I want to make it clear I understand the severity of the crime for which I stand accused and have been convicted.

"I appreciate the gravity of the situation. a young girl lost her life and I can not understand the pain and sorrow they have been through. I have seven children and I can not imagine the pain of anything like this happening to them. My heart goes out to the family."

Sentencing Otway to life, Judge Mr Justice Jacobs said: "You have told lies from the