Somalilandsun- A man who was part of a gang who murdered a drug rival with a machine gun in an Edinburgh suburb has been sentenced to life imprisonment.
Mohammed Ahmed, 29, also known as Jamal Saeed, must serve 25 years in prison before being eligible for parole.
Ahmed was found guilty of murdering Mohammed Abdi in May 2013.
Last year Mohamud Mohamud, Cadil Huseen and Hussein Ali all received life sentences and were ordered to serve a minimum of 25 years for the murder.
Ahmed was convicted last month of killing Mohamed Abdi in Willowbrae, Edinburgh, on 26 May 2013, while acting with others.
Judge John Morris QC told Ahmed: “The jury convicted you of a particularly brutal murder by using a machine gun and gunning down a young man in an otherwise quiet suburb of our capital.
“The use of lethal firearms will not be tolerated on our streets.
“I see no reason to discriminate between you and the others who pleaded guilty and were sentenced to 25 years each.”
Defence advocate Andrew Murphy said that his client still insisted he was innocent.
The court heard that Ahmed fled the scene and flew to Somalia, the country of his birth, just days after the street shooting.
But, unknown to him, he left behind his wallet at the murder scene. A bank card belonging to him was also found in the roof lining of the Volkwagen Sharan driven by the killers.
The court heard the killers and the victim were drug rivals and had a falling out.
Iain McSporran, prosecuting, said: “The Crown’s position is that there appears to have been an organised crime group consisting largely of Somalian males with London connections, operating in Glasgow and Edinburgh.”
The court heard that five shots were discharged from the machine gun before it jammed. Three of them hit Abdi the fatal shot was through the chest.
The Crown’s position is that it is not possible to say who fired the fatal shot.
John Dunn, procurator fiscal for the East of Scotland, said: “The accused took part in a violent attack involving the indiscriminate firing of a submachine gun in a heavily populated part of Edinburgh that left one man dead and put many other lives at risk.
“These types of crime, and those who would seek to perpetrate them on the streets of Scotland, have no place in our society and accordingly will be prosecuted with the utmost severity.”
BBC
