A RHYL man has been jailed for life for his role in a drugs gang's plot to murder a teenager, who survived being shot to the face with a sawn-off shotgun in Coventry.
Alyxander Fraser, 36, of Rhydwen Drive, was convicted of conspiracy to murder at Warwick Crown Court in May following a one-month trial, along with Adam Bhayat, 36; Nicholas Buckley, 36; and Mohammed Ali Khan, 32 (all of Coventry).
On Friday (September 4), Fraser was sentenced at the same court to life imprisonment, with a minimum term of 18 years.
Bhayat, Buckley and Khan were also handed life sentences, with minimum terms of imprisonment of 16 years and eight months, 22 and 20 years respectively.
The four conspired to murder Adel Hijazi, 19, in Grove Street Car Park, Coventry in the early hours of September 13, 2025.
Prosecutor Zoe Johnson KC said the shotgun, which was fired once by Buckley, has never been recovered.
Khan, Buckley and Bhayat convened in Khan’s flat on the evening of September 12, before leaving together to collect the “mission vehicle,” and then going to another address to pick up Fraser and changing the car’s number plate.
Ms Johnson said there had been ongoing contact with a "go-between" of Mr Hijazi that night to ensure he would “be in the right place at the right time”.
Th men discussed the timings and method to be used beforehand, before driving up to Mr Hijazi in a car and shooting him.
Despite being shot in the face at close range, he did not die, instead making it to hospital with serious and life-changing facial injuries.
Pellets were left in his face and skull, and he sustained a broken nose; he spent five days in hospital before being discharged.
Bhayat drove the stolen Volkswagen Golf used in the attack, while Buckley and Fraser were passengers; Buckley got out of the vehicle in the car park and pulled the trigger approximately 10 metres from Mr Hijazi.
Khan then picked his co-defendants up from the scene in a different vehicle.
The defendants’ claim that they planned to commit robbery at a house containing cannabis was, Ms Johnson said, “fanciful and farcical”.
Fraser was arrested after armed police descended on a property on Rhydwen Drive, Rhyl last October.
Fraser has 16 previous convictions, including for offences of inflicting grievous bodily harm without intent in 2011, and of dangerous driving in 2016.
Amjad Malik KC, representing Fraser, said the defendant has "real emotional empathy," and had written his own "reflective and insightful" letter to court.
He described Fraser as a "very strange individual," but one who is "not dangerous" and who is "vulnerable to peer pressure".
Mr Malik said: "Yes, this a very serious offence, but it is unique in his pattern and his past.
"He is not a professional criminal. He is not a professional killer."
Fraser, a father of six, was placed in the care system at 15 following the death of his mother, and has "overcome so much" in his life since then, Mr Malik added.
James Bloomer KC, for Mohammed Ali Khan, said his client "ferried others using his own rather identifiable registered vehicle," while Talbir Singh KC, for Nicholas Buckley, said there was no fatality or life-threatening injury caused.
William Chipperfield, defending Adam Bhayat, said he has an intelligence quotient of 76, and his vocabulary is equivalent to that of a 10-year-old.
Sentencing, Judge Sylvia de Bertodano said Mr Hijazi was “ambushed” by the gang in a "terrifying attack," having been "lured" to the car park by them.
She told the defendants: "You were all convicted because the jury was sure that each of the four of you intended to kill Adel Hijazi, and entered into a plan to kill him, in which each of you played a vital part.
"Whatever the reason for the attack, he did not deserve the lawless death which you intended for him."
Judge de Bertodano said Fraser had been "providing encouragement and support at the time of the shooting".
She added to him: "You accept you made serious mistakes a very long time ago, but you then tried very hard to turn your life around with your partner."
The judge said she considered each of the defendants "dangerous," adding: "If a man is prepared to join in a conspiracy to murder a person by shooting him in the head at close range, and to help carry it out, there is a very clear risk that he will do so again, if the circumstances arise."
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