A MAN has been locked up for eight years for firearms offences after shots were fired in Smethwick.

Azeem Hussain, aged 26, was part of a gang that targeted a business in Smethwick last year, injuring two men in their 40s.

A Ford Fiesta pulled up outside City Computers on Bertram Road and a group attacked the business at around midday on January 12, 2023.

Two of them held an axe and two of them had a shotgun. Shots were fired at the business and the windows and doors were smashed.

One victim was hit in the arm by a gunshot and another victim suffered a neck injury.

CCTV footage from the previous day, showed the gang scouting out the route from their Walsall addresses to Bertram Road and around the area.

Azeem Hussain fled the country soon after the incident.

But he was arrested from the airport following his return to the UK in April this year.

Hussain, from Walsall admitted to charges brought against him at a previous hearing and was jailed for eight years at Worcester Crown Court on Thursday (November 7).

Five men from Walsall have already been jailed for their part in the attack. Last August Haider Shabir, aged 21 was jailed for 14 years, Mohammed Uwais Latif, aged 24 was jailed for nine years and ten months and Mohammed Tayyib Wajid, aged 26 was jailed for 21 months.

In April, Ahmed Aumair, aged 21, was jailed for 12 years and six months.

Jamal Hussain, aged 22, was jailed for nine years two months in September.

Detective Inspector Francis Nock from West Midlands Police's Major Crime Unit said: “All six men involved in this planned armed attack have been convicted and sentenced.

“Azeem Hussain was a key player in this operation and has received a lengthy jail sentences to reflect this.

“This could have easily been a fatal attack but miraculously, the injuries of the two victims were not serious.

“Weapons have no place on our streets and we will continue to bring those to justice who think it’s acceptable to use them to bring violence into our communities".