Drugs gang member jailed for life for key role in brutal Hartlepool shotgun murder of rival

A member of a drugs gang who played a key role in the brutal murder of a rival in Hartlepool has been jailed for more than 30 years.
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Eugert Merizaj, 31, was part of an Organised Crime Group that lured cannabis dealer Hemawand Ali Hussein to an empty house in Charterhouse Street in 2019.

Mr Hussein was shot at point blank range with a sawn-off shotgun moments after entering the house and was killed instantly.

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At least seven people were involved and three suspects are still on the run.

Murderer Eugert Merizaj has been jailed for life and must serve a minimum of 32 years.Murderer Eugert Merizaj has been jailed for life and must serve a minimum of 32 years.
Murderer Eugert Merizaj has been jailed for life and must serve a minimum of 32 years.

Merizaj, originally from Albania, was not the gunman but he was found guilty of murder at Teesside Crown Court last month.

He was jailed for life on Wednesday, May 4, and must serve a minimum of 32 years.

Mr Hussein’s partner, Jennifer Buller, read a moving statement in court detailing the ongoing devastation his murder has caused to his family.

Hemawand Ali Hussein was murdered in Hartlepool.Hemawand Ali Hussein was murdered in Hartlepool.
Hemawand Ali Hussein was murdered in Hartlepool.
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She said: “What has happened to Hammo has crushed and devastated our family beyond measure.

"Our lives have changed forever since he was taken away from us.”

She said he was a “brilliant father” to their two young sons who were aged eight and 10 when he was murdered.

“To see their faces looking at me for answers I could not give them is something no mother should have to go through.”

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Miss Buller said, even after three men were jailed for manslaughter that she was scared others who were still at large could come looking for her and her children.

Merizaj, of Montague Street, Leicester, was extradited from Belgium where he fled last September.

He attended a “planning meeting” with other gang members in Bolton a week before the slaying.

He also bought an axe, cable ties, and rope that were planned but not used in the murder.

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Merizaj also made three trips to Hartlepool with other gang members and was outside the house when Mr Hussein was murdered.

Mr Justice Lavender said: “You ended Mr Hussein’s life and have brought grief and misery to the lives of others, especially his partner Jennifer Buller and their two sons, who were only eight and ten years old when you took their father away from them.”