Two men sentenced to life in prison for the murder of Dudley taxi owner
Father-of-four Mohammed Haroon Zeb was shot in January 2021.
Last updated 16th Feb 2023
Two men have been sentenced to life in prison with a minimum term of 30 years after murdering father-of-four Mohammed Haroon Zeb in a drive-by shooting in Dudley.
The 39-year-old was shot in the head in Queens Cross at just after 12.30am on 31 January, 2021.
The taxi firm manager, known as Haroon, had only just pulled up outside his home and he sadly died in hospital from his injuries later that day.
Police viewed thousands of hours of CCTV, used forensics, scoured social media and phone records to connect Hassan Tasleem and Gurdeep Sandhu to the planned killing.
The fatal blow came from a lethal revolver – and was one of a number of shots fired by a passenger of a Volkswagen Golf - which then drove off. The weapon is still to be recovered.
The killing was part of an ongoing feud between families dating back to at least 2018, including men being mown down by cars and a man stabbed to death. A man was jailed over that murder in 2019.
Mr Zeb was not believed to have been actively involved in the feud, but a follower of what was going on, and the reason he was specifically targeted remains unknown.
Tasleem, 25, of Richmond Road, Dudley, and Sandhu, 25, of Blowers Green Road, Dudley, were convicted of murder, possession of a firearm with intent to endanger life and perverting the course of justice following a three-month trial at Loughborough Crown Court.
A third man Shamraz Ali, 21, of Tanfield Road, was also found guilty of perverting the course of justice. All three have been remanded into custody and will be sentenced at a later date.
Following the convictions, Mr Zeb's family said: "For nearly two years, we as a family have struggled to accept the loss of our Haroon. We thank the police for their tireless work."
Detective Superintendent Jim Munro, who led the murder investigation, said: "This was a carefully planned killing, and children have lost their father forever. Nothing can ever take away that pain.
"We can only hope these convictions will take some dangerous men off the streets and the ongoing police work will bring an end to such violence. We're grateful to the Dudley community who supported us during this investigation."