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Leeds manslaughter jury bribe gang jailed

News imageWest Yorkshire Police Raja Hussain, Jonaade Hussain, Sharear Miah, Abdilahi Ahmed Bottom Row L - R: Jamie Lawson, Waqas Ahmad, Zarfarullah AhmadWest Yorkshire Police
Clockwise from top left: Raja Hussain, Jonaade Hussain, Sharear Miah, Abdilahi Ahmed, Zarfarullah Ahmad, Waqas Ahmad and Jamie Lawson were jailed at Leeds Crown Court

Seven men who attempted to derail a manslaughter and fraud trial in which two of them were defendants have been jailed.

The gang offered £500 to five jurors to return not guilty verdicts against Raja Hussain and Shahrear Islam-Miah.

Hussain and Islam-Miah were accused of killing Betty Laird, 88, in a cash-for-crash scam they were running.

All seven men were sentenced at Leeds Crown Court earlier to prison terms ranging from two to 15 years.

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The men had either admitted or been found guilty of conspiracy to pervert the course of justice.

The sentences were:

  • Raja Hussain, 31, of no fixed address: Five years
  • Jonaade Hussain 27, of Ring Road, Leeds: Five years
  • Shahrear Islam-Miah, 27, of no fixed address: Six years
  • Abdilahi Ahmed, 27, of Lincoln Towers, Leeds: Four years and six months
  • Jamie Lawson, 28, of Bayswater Grove, Leeds: Three years and one month
  • Waqas Ahmad, 26, of Hamilton Avenue, Leeds: Two years and nine months
  • Zafarullah Ahmad, 21, of Hamilton Avenue, Leeds: Two years

Raja and Jonaade Hussain were each sentenced to a further 10 years for firearms offences.

News imageWest Yorkshire Police Betty LairdWest Yorkshire Police
Betty Laird, 88, died following the cash-for-crash collision on 10 September 2014

The court heard members of the jury were identified as they gathered outside Leeds Crown Court after Waqas Ahmad deliberately set off the fire alarm.

The gang then approached five of the jurors, offering each money to return a not guilty verdict in the trial involving Raja Hussain, Islam-Miah and two other men.

However, the jurors reported the approaches to the judge who then dismissed the jury and returned verdicts in the case himself.

Det Insp Lee Fletcher said: "These men were involved in a carefully planned and deliberately orchestrated attempt to derail a manslaughter and fraud trial in which two of them were defendants.

"Despite these men's efforts to stop the trial or influence the verdicts, the judge made use of a rare legal power to continue without the jury, and the defendants were convicted and sent to prison."

Mrs Laird died in hospital after the car she was a passenger in was hit on Old Lane in Beeston in September 2014.