Police ScotlandA drug dealer and his two accomplices killed a woman and endangered the life of her boyfriend in a deadly car attack.
Arslan Sajid, 24, drove a Mercedes which struck the back of a vehicle driven by Amy Rose Wilson, 27, in New Carron Road, Falkirk, on July 29, 2023.
Jurors at the High Court in Edinburgh saw CCTV footage of Sajid driving just a few yards behind the car in which Amy Rose was travelling with her partner.
Sajid and his associates, Andrew Gregoire, 29, and Anthony Davidson, 32, had earlier confronted the duo in the town’s Foundry Street.
This came a short time after Sajid said Amy Rose and the man had stolen five kilos of cannabis, which belonged to him.
Sajid and his sidekicks – who all hail from London – followed the deceased and her partner from a car park in Cumbernauld to the Stirlingshire town.
Police ScotlandThe court heard how the three men smashed the windows of Amy’s car, shouting: “You’re f*****g dead”.
This took place moments before she drove away at speed in a bid to get away from them..
Sajid then pursued Amy Rose’s car and struck the vehicle, causing it to go into a spin and onto the other side of the road moments before it struck another car. Amy Rose died.
Sajid then tried to evade being arrested for the violent attacks by fleeing to Pakistan.
On Thursday, jurors found the trio, who stood trial on a charge of murdering Amy Rose, guilty of the lesser offence of culpable homicide.
The three men were also accused of the attempted murder of the man. However, they were found guilty of severely assaulting him to the danger of his life.
The jury also convicted the trio – and a fourth man called Steven Hornsby, 55, on a charge of conspiring to rob “persons” of drugs and money in the days leading up to Amy Rose’s death at locations across the UK.
Police ScotlandThe men were also convicted of carrying out a series of actions between July 29, 2023 and August 2, 2023, to “avoid detection, arrest and prosecution” for their actions in Falkirk. This included Sajid travelling to Pakistan.
Judge Lady Drummond remanded the group in custody and called for reports into their backgrounds. Prosecutor Alan Cameron KC told her that the accused all had criminal records.
She said: “These are very serious offences to which you have been convicted of and with your records they will no doubt result in significant custodial sentences being imposed upon you.”
During proceedings, the court heard Sajid say he and his accomplices had travelled from Dagenham in Essex with ten kilos of cannabis to sell to a Glasgow-based dealer.
Sajid told Mr Cameron that the Scottish dealer, who he didn’t name, told him he was only going to buy half the cannnabis, as he thought the other five kilos didn’t meet quality standards.
Sajid added: “He said he would sell the other five kilos for us.”
Sajid then said that a buyer for the substandard five kilograms had been found, and the handover would take place in the car park of a B&Q branch in Cumbernauld.
The court heard that Sajid expected that he would receive £17,000 for the haul once the buyers had taken possession of the cannabis. However, he said the expected handover of cash didn’t happen.
The court heard evidence that the car containing the drugs – a Vauxhall Vectra – was being driven by Amy Rose Wilson.
He said he then followed the car to Falkirk, which stopped in Foundry Street.
The court heard evidence that masked men got out of the Mercedes and smashed the windows of Amy Rose’s car, shouting threats at Amy Rose and her partner.
Sajid said that he just wanted the Vectra to stop so he could “get my stuff back” and that his co-accused didn’t smash the windows of Amy Rose’s car.
He said that when he got out of the car, Gregoire and Davidson – who had been travelling with him – followed him and tried to restrain him.
Sajid then told Mr Cameron: “Anthony and Andrew got out of the car as well. They held me back and said ‘what are you doing?’.
Sajid then said he got back into the car and followed it. He admitted to hitting it a short time afterwards.
He said: “I clipped the Vectra. It spun out into the other lane.”
Mr Cameron asked: “What did you do?”
Sajid replied: “I just continued driving. I heard a loud bang. I didn’t appreciate how serious the incident was.”
Sajid and his accomplices then parked their car in nearby Larbert. They called a man who was based in London to come north to pick it up.
Hornsby then drove his co-accused back to England. Sajid caught a flight to Pakistan. He said he decided to visit there as his grandfather was dying, and he wanted to see him.
However, he admitted to later learning that Amy Rose had died after browsing the internet.
He added: “I felt sick. I wanted to throw up. It was an accident. It was not my intention for her to die. It was not meant to be like that.”
On Thursday, Gregoire laughed in the dock of the court after learning of the jury’s verdicts. He also gave a thumbs up sign to family members who were sitting in the public benches.
Mr Cameron told Lady Drummond that Sajid had previous convictions for road traffic offences and cannabis possessions.
He said Gregoire had served a 42-month jail term in 2020 for producing cannabis.
Hornsby had been given an 86-month jail term in 2017 for attempted robbery, whilst Davidson had also served six years for attempted robbery.
The four men will be sentenced at the High Court in Glasgow on May 1 2025.
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