Associate of man shot on M62 is jailed over firearm

AN ASSOCIATE of a man shot dead by an armed officer during a police stop on the M62 has been convicted of conspiracy to possess firearms and ammunition.

Yassar Yakub, 28, was the front seat passenger in one of two cars travelling in convoy when four unmarked police vehicles surrounded them at junction 24 of the motorway in Huddersfield.

He was shot at 6.05pm on January 2 last year after an undercover police operation in which officers from West Yorkshire were deployed to observe individuals including Mr Yakub, a jury at Leeds Crown Court heard.

Mohsin Amin, 32, who was driving the car, was convicted yesterday by a jury of conspiracy to possess firearms with intent to endanger life. Two other defendants, Rexhino Arapaj, 28, and David Butlin, 39, were found not guilty of the same charge following the two-week trial, but Butlin was convicted of possession of an offensive weapon – a push-knife.

Mr Arapaj nodded to the jury as he was released from the dock, dragging a suitcase behind him.

Mohsin was remanded into custody and Butlin was bailed until both are sentenced on Wednesday. Possession of a firearm with intent to endanger life carries a maximum sentence of life imprisonment.

Mr Justice Turner warned Butlin that granting bail was “no indication” of his likely sentence.

The court heard how the officer who fired the fatal round saw Mr Yakub holding a weapon, and felt he was an imminent danger.

Police found a fully loaded and operational Russian Baikal pistol under the passenger seat of the Audi in which Mr Yakub was travelling. Officers also found a silencer and a bag of plastic ammunition in the glove compartment.

They later discovered a string of WhatsApp messages between Mohsin and an unidentified man in the days before the incident.

Mohsin, of Broomer Street, Dewsbury; Arapaj, of Thornlea Road, Huddersfield, and Butlin, of Huddersfield Road, Holmfirth, had denied the offences.