UK shooting victim Aya Hachem laid to rest in Lebanon hometown

Aya Hachem, 19, was shot dead from a passing car last Sunday in the northern British town of Blackburn. Police believe the Muslim student was not the intended victim of the shooting.

The Lebanese-born teenager was buried on Saturday in Qlaileh, where her mother and father travelled to lay her to rest.

Mourners threw rose petals on the casket as family members carried it from the Hachem family home towards the local cemetry.

Hachem's parents described her as a "loyal devoted daughter" who had dreamed of becoming a lawyer. She had been in her second year of studying law at the University of Salford when she was killed.

"I couldn't have imagined that my daughter, who was supposed to return with a graduation gown from law school, would return in a coffin," her mother Samar told Lebanese newspaper The Daily Star.

Also on Saturday, four men and a woman were charged with the university student's murder during seperate appearings at the Preston magistrates court. 

Feroz Suleman, 39, Abubakir Satia, 31, Uthman Satia, 28, and Kashif Manzoor, 24, and Judy Chapman, 26, were also charged with the attempted murder of their intended target, Pashar Khan.

The five have been remanded in custody awaiting an apperance before the Preston crown court on Wednesday next week. They have not been allowed to apply for bail due to the severity of the allegations.

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