Thug who organised cold-blooded execution of taxi boss blasted dead in drive-by shooting on his 39th birthday in 'tit for tat' killing captured on CCTV is convicted of manslaughter

A thug who organised the cold-blooded execution of a taxi boss who was blasted dead in a drive-by shooting has been found guilty of manslaughter.

CCTV captured the moment Mohammed Haroon Zeb, 39, was fatally shot in the head in Dudley, West Midlands, on his birthday in January 2021 amid a bitter 'tit for tat' feud between families.

Akeel Hussain, 23, has now been convicted of manslaughter following a trial at Wolverhampton Crown Court after an investigation revealed that he helped arrange the carefully-planned attack and played a 'prominent role' in the shooting.

Detectives found Hussain was injured after being hit by a car less than a fortnight earlier as part of a three year feud between two warring groups of families. 

Mr Zeb was not believed to have been actively involved in the feud and detectives say the reason he was targeted remains unknown. 

Mr Zeb had only just arrived outside his home when he was targeted by the thugs on his 39th birthday, the court heard. 

Shocking video footage shows a Volkswagen Golf slowing down before flashes can be seen from the passenger window as five shots were fired. 

The father-of-four was rushed to hospital but nothing could be done to save him and he was pronounced dead later that day. 

Gurdeep Sandhu, 23, and Hassan Tasleem, 23, were previously found guilty of murder and jailed for life at Loughborough Crown Court in January this year.

Co-conspirator Hussain, of Dudley, has now been convicted of manslaughter following a trial at Wolverhampton Crown Court.

Detectives were able to link him to the case and playing a 'prominent role' in the shooting following examination of mobile phone records and social media. 

Another man Mohammed Rafiq, 22, also of Dudley, was involved in helping to conceal the Golf - which had false plates - and later recovered in Telford, Shropshire.

He was convicted of attempting to pervert the course of justice and will be sentenced alongside Hussain on December 1.

Detective Superintendent Jim Munro, of West Midlands Police, said: 'While Hussain may not have fired the fatal gunshot, he was integral to planning the shooting which tragically led to the death of Mr Zeb.'

The taxi boss was not believed to have been actively involved in the feud, but police said he was following what was going on.

'We will possibly never know why Mr Zeb was specifically targeted,' added Det Supt Munro. 'We know nothing can ever replace the loss of a loved one, but we hope the fact Hussain will now spend considerable time behind bars will ease some of the pain felt by Mr Zeb's family.

'We will always pursue and seek to convict anyone involved in a killing - from committing the act, planning the killing, or trying to protect others from facing justice.'