Anjum Nawaz, Mohammed Imtiaz Malik, pleaded guilty to possession of a firearm with intent to endanger life

Niwaz, 25, from Grindleton Road, Blackburn; Anjum Nawaz, 24, from Columbia Place, Sheffield and Mohammed Imtiaz Malik, 25, from Montague Street, Blackburn pleaded guilty to possession of a firearm with intent to endanger life. Today, all three men appeared before The Honourable Mrs Justice Rafferty at Manchester Crown Court for sentencing. Niwaz was sentenced to 13 years in prison. Nawaz received ten years and Malik was sentenced to eight years. This follows a major police investigation into a shooting which happened in the early hours of the morning on 18 June 2007 when two gunshots were fired through the windows of a house on Whalley New Road, Blackburn. It happened at 4.25am, when a 20-year-old student was woken by a disturbance outside his home. As he went to investigate, two gun shots were fired at the house, which narrowly missed his head and showered him and his 13-year-old brother with glass.
Both brothers were left shaken by the ordeal and police enquiries soon revealed that the family living at the address were not the intended targets. The shots had been intended for two men living next door. The attack was the culmination of a dispute between two rival groups of Asian men which had happened the day before outside an address on Wensley Road, Blackburn.
A robust and thorough police investigation was soon underway involving police in South Yorkshire and Greater Manchester. In the hours that followed the shooting police arrested Niwaz in Darwen and recovered a Cherokee Jeep nearby. Niwaz had bought the Jeep only hours before the attack for £450. It was then used as a getaway vehicle as the offenders fled the scene. Following protracted enquiries with many different agencies, two further suspects were arrested and subsequent enquiries resulted in police recovering a double barrel shotgun and balaclavas which are believed to have been used in the attack.
Detective Inspector Andy Hulme who was in charge of the investigation said: “This sentence demonstrates our commitment to protecting members of the public from serious and organised crime.