Coventry man jailed for torching murder getaway car
It comes after Abdul Xasan was killed in a drive by shooting in 2020
Last updated 4th Jul 2022
CCTV from Charterhouse Drive, Coventry, shows Otis Collier and an accomplice running from the blaze after setting alight a VW Golf that hours earlier was used in a fatal shooting.
Collier was hoping the fire would hinder the investigation into the drive-by killing of Abdul Xasan in Coventry on 13 March 2020.
However, officers found shotgun cartridges in the burned-out shell which ballistics experts matched to spent cartridges recovered from the murder scene in Adelaide Street.
In November 2020, getaway driver Riaz Ahmed and 19-year-old Carren Monga – who fired the fatal shots through the Golf’s window – were both jailed for life following an investigation.
Enquiries revealed Collier agreed to meet Ahmed shortly after the shooting and drove him home in a blue Ford Focus.
Police then found phone calls between Collier, aged 20, and Ahmed before the car was set on fire at around 8pm that night.
He claimed it was a conversation about the sale of a bike but officers believe they were arranging for the car to be torched.
And imagers were found in a folder called “for my eyes only” on Collier’s phone containing images of two men in balaclavas inside the stolen VW Golf that were taken just minutes before the car was destroyed.
Collier, from Portsea Close in Coventry, denied assisting offenders but was found guilty by a jury at Birmingham Crown Court on 29 June.
He was jailed for four years at the same court on Thursday (30 June) which will run consecutively to the nine years he’s already serving for unrelated matters.
Detective Sergeant Steve Parkes ran the investigation. He said: “Collier was trying to help two gang members get away with murder: he plotted to try and destroy vital evidence.
“Ultimately he failed. Despite the destruction of important forensic evidence, police scientists were able to link the remnants of shotgun cartridges from the Golf to those recovered at the scene.
“And through painstaking CCTV enquiries we were able to piece together the movements of both the Golf and the Ford Focus throughout that fateful day.
“We put a compelling case to a jury that led to Ahmed and Monga being jailed for life, and now Collier will also spend several years behind bars.
“Anyone who associates themselves with gangs risks being killed or seriously injured, or spending much of their life behind bars.
“We work with partners to offer young people better life choices and help to exit gang affiliation – but for anyone intent on causing harm in our communities we will take firm action.”