A SEVENTH person is due to stand trial for the murder of Blackburn law student Aya Hachem next May.

Zamir Raja, 32, of Halsall Court, Ormskirk, appeared at Preston Crown Court over video link from the city's prison where he was told he would stand trial on May 4, 2021, before Mr Justice Dove. He will be arraigned alongside his co-defendants on October 16.

They are Blackburn residents Feroz Suleman, 39, of Shear Brow, Kashif Manzoor, 24, of Shakeshaft Street, Uthman Satia, 28, and Abubakir Satia, 31, both of Oxford Close, Ayaz Hussain, 34, of, Calgary Avenue; and Judy Chapman, 26, of St Hubert’s Road in Great Harwood.

They are all also charged with attempting to murder Pashar Khan

Judge Robert Altham remanded Raja into custody until arraignment.

Innocent passer-by Miss Hachem, 19, was fatally shot as she walked to Lidl supermarket on King Street near her home in Blackburn, on May 17.

The first of two shots fired from a passing vehicle hit a building but the second hit the teenager in the chest.

Prosecutor Alex Langhorn said it was the Crown’s case that the shooting arose “out of a business dispute between two tyre companies”.