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Judge slaps eight more years on double shooter’s sentence
21/11/2003
A GUNMAN who tried to murder two people in cold blood in an
ambush on a Rochdale road has had his sentence nearly
doubled.
There was widespread disquiet when Barkat Ali was jailed for only
10 years after he fired at two men sitting in a car in Edenfield
Road, Passmonds, in a bungled 'revenge' execution.
But now, after pressure from Crown Prosecution Services (CPS)
bosses in Rochdale, an Appeal Court judge has increased Ali's
sentence from 10 to 18 years.
Lord Justice Latham said the original sentence had been 'wholly
inappropriate' and 'unduly lenient'.
Paul Blomeley, head of the Rochdale office of the CPS, said he was
very pleased at the outcome.
He said: "I always thought that Ali should have got 20 years.
"It was a particularly brutal case with many aggravating
features.
"He used a 32 calibre gun in a built up, busy area when he knew
there would probably be many people about."
Ali,aged 32, of Dunster Avenue, listened from the dock of London's
Court of Appeal as Lord Justice Latham delivered a stern warning to
all would-be gunmen.
The judge said he had to 'send out a message ... that the use of
guns is unacceptable in a civilised society'.
It was on 15 February, 2002 that Ali was found guilty of attempting
to murder Murad Khan and Waseem Ziah.
On the night of 27/28 April, 2001 Mr Khan was in the Mayfield pub
in Albert Royds Street when he became involved in an altercation
with Ali.
As revenge for what he saw as his humiliation at the hands of Mr
Khan, Ali rang him on 3 May, asking that he meet him at Spotland
Primary School.
Mr Khan went to the Edmund Street school in a taxi with two
friends, one of whom was Mr Ziah. When they arrived they saw a
Rover being driven by a man they knew as a friend of Ali.
They followed the car on to Edenfield Road to the junction of Sandy
Lane where the lights were on red.
When the taxi stopped in the outside lane a car containing four
men, one of whom was Ali, pulled up alongside.
Ali pointed a .32 calibre handgun at Mr Khan and fired, hitting him
in the left shoulder. He then aimed at Mr Ziah and fired, hitting
him in the left arm as he raised his arms in self-defence.
Both men were taken to hospital for surgery, Mr Khan to a damaged
artery and Mr Ziah to his left forearm.
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