The mother of an American hitwoman who discussed herself in a hijab has urged her daughter to surrender.

Aimee Betro, 44, was hired to travel from the US to the West Midlands to kill boutique clothing store owner Sikander Ali.

But the plot, orchestrated by Mohammed Nazir, 30, and his father Mohammed Aslam, 56, business rivals to Ali, failed when the would-be assassin's gun jammed.

Both men have been convicted of conspiracy to murder in Birmingham Crown Court.

Amid an international manhunt for Betro, her mother has come forward to urge her daughter to turn herself in.

Jeanne Johnson, 62, said that she had only learned of her daughter’s role in the bungled murder plot when reporters turned up on her doorstep.

“She needs to turn herself in. I would love her to do that because she is going to run out of places to hide. She has nowhere else to go, and now that it’s an international manhunt, she’s not going to be able to fly anywhere,” Johnson told The Times.

The 62-year-old said she had not seen her daughter in five years, and they only occasionally sent text messages. The last time she heard from her was on Mother's day in May.

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“If she comes here, I’m not letting her in. I will call the police. I’m afraid somebody’s after her and is maybe going to kill her. Now that it’s all come out.

“She’s got to stop running. She’s got to pay the price now.”

Betro suddenly left her home in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, in 2019, after meeting a mysterious boyfriend who her mother described as her “partner in crime”.

The pair had recently come back from a trip to the UK, where Betro visited London, Brighton and Birmingham - the location of the failed assassination attempt.

On 7 September 2019, Betro disguised herself by wearing a hijab, and drove a Mercedes she bought to an address in Acocks Green in Birmingham, and waited for Sikander Ali to pull up in his Audi.

During the trial at Birmingham Crown Court, Kevin Hegarty KC, prosecuting counsel said: “As he did, the would-be assassin came from the driver's side of the Mercedes.

“She walked quite calmly towards Sikander Ali and was pointing a gun at him at head height.

“As she got closer to Sikander Ali he saw her and he saw the gun, and she pulled the trigger to fire the gun at him. Mercifully and luckily for him, the gun jammed.”

Two days after the failed murder, Betro returned to the US.

West Midlands Police said their efforts to track down Aimee Betro continue.