Five remanded in custody after court hearing over murder of law student Aya Hachem

Aya Hachem, 19, was just in the wrong place at the wrong time when she was gunned down as she walked to a supermarket near her home in Blackburn last Sunday.

She was killed by one of two shots from a passing vehicle which hit the teenager in the chest.

Blackburn residents Feroz Suleman, 39, of Shear Brow, Kashif Manzoor, 24, of Shakeshaft Street, Uthman Satia, 28, and Abubakir Satia, 31, both of Oxford Close, and Judy Chapman, 26, of St Hubert’s Road in Great Harwood, appeared in court in separate hearings on Saturday.

The five were also charged with the attempted murder of their intended target, Pashar Khan.

In a series of short hearings at Preston Magistrates’ Court, sitting at Sessions House Crown Court, the five were remanded in custody to appear at Preston Crown Court on Wednesday.

All of the defendants wore grey tracksuits, apart from Suleman, who wore a Gucci jumper and jeans.

The court heard the allegations were so serious they could only be heard at the crown court and no applications for bail could be made.

A closure order was issued for Suleman’s business, RI Tyres, for up to three months, following an application by Lancashire Police.

Miss Hachem, a second-year student at the University of Salford, died in hospital from a single gunshot wound a short time after emergency services were called to the scene in King Street at about 3pm.

Her distraught parents said she was the “most loyal, devoted daughter” who enjoyed spending time with her family.

Two Blackburn men – a 39-year-old arrested on Wednesday on suspicion of murder and attempted murder, and one aged 34 arrested on Thursday on the same charges – remain in custody.