Pair jailed for 'slam guns' business and shooting at house

Ummar Yaqoob, 31, and his former girlfriend Kiran Hussain, 26, turned blank weapons into ‘slam guns’ to sell them on as part of a business they ran.

Hussain would buy cartridges through her ebay account, which she stored to be used on the guns.

Hussain would drive Yaqoob to locations to sell the slam guns, with Yaqoob described as the dominant partner in the relationship.

Ummar Yaqoob

The guns could be disassembled and transported easily and were sold to people in Bradford, Newcastle, Wakefield and Oldham.

One of the guns they manufactured was used by Yaqoob in a shooting.

He wanted revenge on a man who he believed was involved in Yaqoob’s sister’s car being stolen. The car was recovered the same day and there was no evidence to suggest the man was involved in the car being stolen, Bradford Crown Court heard yesterday.

From three metres away, Yaqoob fired at the ground floor living room window of a house on Agar Street, Girlington, where the man was with his mother at the time of the shooting.

Kiran Hussain

Yaqoob asked Hussain to bring him the slam gun and a cartridge and they drove to Agar Street together.

Yaqoob, of Hill Top Mount, Leeds, could not see who was in the room when he fired and the man only avoided being hit by the cartridge as he was bent down when it was shot.

No-one was injured in the shooting, which took place shortly after 10.30pm on Sunday March 31, 2019. The man’s mother was frightened and distressed after the shooting.

Hussain, of Ophelia Close, Bradford, was parked nearby the home to help Yaqoob escape after the shooting.

After driving away, Yaqoob researched how to get gunpowder off clothing.

Hussain and Yaqoob resumed their slam guns business after the shooting. The manufacturing of the weapons continued until Hussain was arrested in April 2019, when she was in possession of a slam gun and cartridge.

The scene in Agar Street where a gun was fired at a ground floor window

Yaqoob was jailed for a total of 21 years and eight months for possession of a firearm with intent to cause fear of violence, possession of a prohibited firearm and manufacturing a prohibited firearm. But Judge Jonathan Rose also gave Yaqoob a five-year extended licence period as he was classed as a dangerous offender.

Hussain was jailed for six years and nine months for two offences of possession of a slam gun, manufacturing a prohibited weapon and possession of a firearm with intent to cause fear of violence. It is not known how many weapons were made and sold as part of the business, which started in December 2018, only narrowed down to ‘numerous’. Police later recovered some of the weapons.

Yaqoob was also charged with handling stolen goods and using criminal property, following a robbery by two men at Tesco in Haworth Road, where a G4S employee had a cash box and contents worth £14,664.20 stolen.

The scene on Agar Street, Girlington, after shots were fired at a house

The cash box was taken to a house where it was exploded to release the cash inside.

Yaqoob was trusted by the robbers to deal with the cash box. The incident took place on October 8, 2018.

Sentencing Yaqoob, Judge Rose said: “This business was for profit.

“They were in business together. You took with you a cartridge and it was clearly your intention to load a gun and fire it and fire it you did.

“You made a concious decision to fire the gun as you did. You could not have known who was inside. You did not seek to attract his attention outside his house. Women and children could have been there.

“You fired that gun with no concern for the occupants. You returned to your business of manufacturing slam guns.”

Judge Rose said Yaqoob was a dangerous man who posed a serious risk to the public.

Hussain was described by the judge as the junior partner to Yaqoob, who played a lesser role in the manufacturing and selling of the slam guns and naively believed she was in a loving relationship with Yaqoob.

Judge Rose told her: “Yaqoob was the one with the knowledge of the weapons, you did his bidding.”

Judge Rose added Hussain chose to enter their weapons business which continued after the shooting.