A gangland drive-by shooting outside the Godfather café in broad daylight led to the downfall of two rival drug gangs.

On November 15, 2019, as two men sat in the café located in Cheetham Hill, a Mercedes slowly approached, prompting a group that included the men to step outside and investigate.

Just before three to four shots were fired at them, a family of eight walked past. The group scattered in different directions, but two men were hit; one suffered a serious ankle fracture while the other sustained a deep gunshot wound.

Following the attack, the gunman was assisted by his brother to flee the country and remains at large. His brother, Ahsan Shabbir, along with four other men, has been jailed for their involvement in both the shooting and various drug dealing offences.

Manchester Crown Court heard that on that afternoon around 2:30 PM, several males were seated inside the Godfather café on Copthall Lane. The Mercedes was driven by Hazhar Anwar and had Faizan Shabbir as a front seat passenger while Danyal Ahmed sat in the back.

The group inside noticed the car and left to pursue it. As they approached at the junction with Cheetham Hill Road, the front seat passenger pointed a pistol towards them and opened fire, causing them to retreat up Copthall Lane.

Two fleeing males stumbled as they were struck by live rounds and required hospital treatment for their serious leg injuries.

Footage captured moments before showed a family with five small children walking past just prior to the gunfire. One witness remarked on how crowded it was at that time and expressed concern about potential injuries or fatalities during this incident.

Anwar drove from the scene and abandoned the vehicle nearby where they all fled. They met Faizan’s brother Ahsan there; Faizan, Ahsan, and Anwar took one taxi while Ahmed took another separately.

Anwar enlisted his girlfriend Zain Sarfraz to falsely report that the hired car (in her name) had been stolen. She has since been convicted of perverting justice.

Ahsan Shabbir aided his brother by arranging transportation away from the area while providing him food and drink as he hid out before booking him a flight out of England. However, this flight was later cancelled; Faizan managed to leave via a port in southern England shortly after. He is believed to still be outside of the UK.

The court also revealed that following the shooting incident, all defendants faced arrests related to drug dealing activities both collectively and individually.

Anwar attempted to portray himself as merely paying off a drug debt while continuing his dealings for profit. He denied being Faizan’s right-hand man despite evidence suggesting otherwise.

A search of Ahmed’s home post-shooting uncovered a burner phone containing messages advertising drugs for sale including ‘sniff’, ‘flake’, and ‘ket’.

Ahsan Shabbir was also implicated in heroin and cocaine distribution activities inspired by his brother Faizan's actions. Judge Goddard noted that such criminal enterprises are rampant in Manchester despite deterrent sentences being imposed.