TikTok influencer and mum jailed for murdering ex-lover and pal in 100mph ambush
A social media influencer and her mother have been jailed for life for the murder of the mum's young lover after ambushing and ramming him off the road at 100mph when he threatened to expose the three-year affair with a sex tape.
Mahek Bukhari and her mum Ansreen were found guilty of murder by a jury alongside two of the girl's friends Raees Jamal and Rekan Karwan. Three others have also been convicted of manslaughter and have also been sentenced today following the incident on the A46 in Leicester on February 11 last year.
Mahek Bukhari and her mum Ansreen have been jailed for the murders of Hashim Ijazuddin and Saqib HussainIn the court today are the families of victims Hashim Ijazuddin and Saqib Hussain. Hashim's father told the court how in the months since losing his son, he has struggled to get out of bed and has put on 30kg. His mother still rings his phone every single day, while Saqib's family have been bombarded with death threats, leaving them unable to grieve in peace.
During the trial, the jury heard how Hashim and Saqib, both 21, had travelled from Banbury in Oxfordshire to Leicester to meet Mahek, 23, and Ansreen, 47, and receive £3,000 in blackmail cash after Saqib had been threatening to post nude images and sexual videos of Ansreen - who he'd been having a three-year affair with - online.
The Skoda Fabia driven by the victims 'split in two' when it hit the central reservation (Leicester Mercury / BPM Media)Instead, Mahek and her mother hatched a plan to ambush them, with Mahek and her co-defendants chasing the two men up the A46. Defendant Raees Jamal, 22, behind the wheel of a Seat Leon, rammed into the men's Skoda Fabia, sending them crashing into the central reservation. The vehicle 'split in two' before bursting into flames, killing the two men inside.
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Mahek, of George Eardley Close in Stoke has been sentenced to life in prison. She will serve a minimum of 31 years and eight months before she can be freed. Ansreen, of the same address, was also given life with a minimum of 26 years and nine months.
Judge Timothy Spencer KC told the court: "The prosecution categorised this as a story of love, obsession and extortion and in that they were right. They were also right in categorising this case as one of cold-blooded murder."
Raees Jamal, of Lingdale Close, is already serving a 10-year jail term for raping a woman at his home in Loughborough in 2020. He has now been sentenced to life in prison with a minimum of 36 years. 28-year-old Karwan, of Tomlin Road, Leicester, sentenced alongside Ansreen, also has 26 years and nine months to wait for parole, with a short deductions of a few months for time served on tagged curfew.
Akhtar, 22, of Alum Rock Road, Birmingham, was given a 12-year sentence. That was reduced to 11 years and eight months due to time on tagged curfew. Ameer Jamal, 27, Catherine Street, Belgrave, Leicester, will service 14 years and eight months, while Gulammustafa, 22, of Littlemore Close, Crown Hills, Leicester, will serve 14 years and nine months.
Victim's desperate 999 call
In a desperate 999 call to police made by front-seat passenger Mr Hussain just moments before his death, he claimed their car was being "rammed off the road" by balaclava-wearing assailants, following in two pursuing cars. In the recording, played to Leicester Crown Court during the trial, he said: "They're trying to kill me, they're trying to kill me. I'm just getting rammed off the road."
He can then be heard saying: "Please, I am begging you." Mr Hussain was heard to say "Oh my God", before there was a scream, with the call cutting off abruptly at the sound of an impact.
Footage from police attending the crash scene, at about 1.35am, showed the Skoda in flames, resting against a tree by the Six Hills junction near Leicester. The court heard how "completely innocent" Mr Ijazuddin agreed to drive his friend to Leicester that night and had been "in the wrong place at the wrong time", with the favour to Mr Hussain turning out "to be a tragic and fatal mistake".
After his death, Mr Hussain's family would later tell detectives he had been having a three-year affair with the older woman, who was married with children. Mr Hussain "appeared to be in love" with Mrs Bukhari, whom he knew as Anzy, while her daughter was "aware of the relationship, and was happy to tolerate it, if not approve of it", said Mr Thompson.
Saqib Hussain (left) died alongside his friend Hashim Ijazuddin (right) on the A46 in February last year (Leicester Mercury / BPM Media)Over the course of their tryst, Mr Hussain spent up to £3,000 on taking Mrs Bukhari out, the court heard. "That there was a sexual relationship is also clear," the jury heard. "A number of sexually-explicit videos and pictures were found, involving both Saqib Hussain and Ansreen Bukhari.
"The existence of that material is at the very centre of this case because it was what that material could do that the Crown say led to ... the murder of these two young men." By January 2022, Mrs Bukhari was trying to end the relationship, against Mr Hussain's wishes.
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Not able to accept the relationship was over, Mr Hussain sent his former lover a large number of messages showing him "becoming increasingly obsessive about the relationship, professing his love for Ansreen and begging her to continue the relationship". It was then that he began to threaten Ansreen with leaking explicit content and telling her husband of the affair.
On January 4, 2022, Mahek Bukhari sent her mother a message which read: "I'll get him jumped by guys and he won't know what day it is." When Mr Hussain also tried to get Mahek Bukhari to get her mother to reply to him, the influencer replied: "She ain't a dog, don't f** raise your voice and tell me what to do."
Later, she allegedly told him: "I am sorry that this year you'll be gone, Saqib."
Families torn apart
Judge Timothy Spencer KC read out statements from the victims' heartbroken families to the court during the sentencing hearing. Saqib's father, Sajad Hussain, who described the moment the police went to their home to tell them their son was dead. He described how his wife fell to the floor screaming "my child" while Saqib's grandmother fell into the arms of a police officer, sobbing.
He said he and Saqib's mother were in "extreme shock" and like "lifeless corpses" as they struggled to understand their son was dead. He said: "Everyone was in a state of denial and we were making fake scenarios up in our heads, hoping the news was wrong.
"His seven-year-old brother would keep crying his eyes out and saying it wasn't true." He added: "We are still heart-broken and devastated by our huge loss. Our whole family has been torn apart."
The statement described Saqib, who was 21 when he died on Friday, February 11 last year. It said: "The joy Saqib brought into our lives is immeasurable. Saqib's beautiful presence was a gift.
"He brought light into the lives of everyone who knew him. His smile would light up any room and he had a contagious laugh. He was kind-hearted and selfless, always putting others before himself. No words could describe the beauty of his character to a just degree."
(Left to right) Ansreen Bukhari, Mahek Bukhari, Raees Jamal, Rekhan Karwan, Sanaf Gulamustafa, Ameer Jamal, Natasha Akhtar (PA)The family describe not being able to grieve properly due to being bombarded with death threats in the wake of the tragedy. He said: "We've had people harass, abuse and threaten us, as well as death threats."
Hashim's father spoke in person of the devastating loss of his son. "I have never felt pain like this and never imagined something like this could happen to someone so loving and giving," he said.
"None of us have recovered from losing him in such a brutal way." He described Hashim as a "superstar" and that since losing him the family had been "living in a nightmare that has shattered our lives".
He said: "He was just 21 and had his whole life ahead of him. Even in his last moments he was helping others." He said the family were not the same since Hashim's death "and never will be". "It's like losing a limb and when one limb is ripped away it affects the whole body," he added.
The devastated father admitted every day is a struggle and he has put on 30kg since losing his son, struggling to walk. "Just getting out of bed is a battle," he told the court.
"My relationship with my other children has been affected. Living without my son can only be described as torture. My wife is a broken woman and Hashim's siblings hold onto what memories they have - every joke, every comment. Since February 11, 2022, not a single day has passed that we haven't cried in grief and sorrow."
'Totally innocent'
Mr Ijazuddin looked to the dock and asked the defendants "Was it worth it?" He added: "You all made the decision to scare, harm, hurt my son and you made the decision not to let them escape that night when they fled in fear.
"Hashim was innocent - totally innocent. He drove his friend that night not known he was driving to his death. The fear he must have felt in those minutes being chased and then rammed off the road. They left Hashim and his friend to burn in a furnace of hell. They didn't just take two lives that night - they took ours, too."
Hashim's mother still rings his phone number every day. Another family member read out her heartbreaking statement, saying. "I should have protected you and kept you safe. Every day I struggle to face living in this world without you."
Zaheer, Hashim's older brother, addressed the 'vile' defendants, saying: "Why did these vile humans take [Hashim] away? He never harmed anyone. He was generous, caring, funny and thoughtful."
He went on to describe how the sadness had reduced his parents life expectancy. He said: "The rapid decline in my parents' health has been heart-wrenching. I fear I will lose my parents sooner - this has taken years off their lives."
He said that whenever he sat alone he had anxiety attacks. He said: "These attacks cripple me. I wanted to join him. I wanted to get in his coffin on the day of his burial. The men around me had to physically restrain me from doing so."
Killers tried to cover up plot
Mahek Bukhari lied to police in a desperate bid to evade justice (Police handout)Mr Thompson spoke about the aggravating factors in the case and said there was a "significant degree of planning" in the murder plot. He said: "It's clear from the evidence Saqib was blackmailing - threatening to expose the true nature of his relationship with Ansreen.
"That led to an attempt to silence Saqib Hussain to prevent him repeating the threats. The trap was then set at Tesco with an attempt to harm him there, to lure him - with the lure being the return of money he had spent on Ansreen and seeing her for one last time."
He added that it was clear from the 999 call Saqib made showed he was "in fear for his life" throughout that chase and that the same was likely to be true of Hashim, who was driving the call. Mr Thompson said there were several aggravating factors regarding how the defendants behaved after the two men's deaths.
He referred to the fact none of the defendants called the emergency services after the crash, the face coverings worn by some of them back in Leicester, the attempt to switch mobile phones and the fact Raees Jamal and Rekan Karwan had fled to London.
He also referred to Mahek's failure to give the police the corrrect PIN for her phone, which led to officers setting off a factory reset, wiping evidence from her mobile. Mr Thompson said that was a deliberate attempt to mislead police and led to a long wait for the detectives to get access to Mahek's cloud account, which had some of the data from her phone.
Patrick Upward KC, defending Ansreen, told the court how she did not take part in the planning of the murder, and instead went to the gym. He said: "Although plans had clearly been made, Ansreen was not preparing to take part in them."
He said his client went to the gym and was called back by her daughter. He also added there was no communication between his client and the two she did know - Rekan Karwan and Raees Jamal - and challenged the idea it was a group attack.
The car was rammed off the road in a brutal murder plot hatched by the mum and her daughter (PA)He said: "Group attack? There were several people involved but this is not a case where all seven defendants got their heads together. It was tragic as it turned out but there is room to believe the impetus of what happened was not anticipated before what happened."
Christopher Millington KC, barrister for Mahek Bukhari, told the court how Saqib's blackmail had left the mother and daughter in a state of "great stress and anxiety": "Saqib was engaged in serious criminal behaviour towards Ansreen and Mahek after Ansreen tried to end the relationship. He was sometimes threatening with an underlying theme of coming to the family home with his mates to confront them."
Defending Jamal, Leonard Smith KC said he did not intent to kill the two men, and he was "never told the whole truth" by Bukhari. Meanwhile Sophie Evans, the junior barrister for Rekan Karwan, who was driving Mahek's Audi TT when the fatal crash happened, only ever intended to "scare" Saqib and never intended any serious harm to Saqib or Hashim.
Rajiv Menon KC, barrister for Ameer Jamal, said Ameer had no previous convictions and was of positive good character, adding: "There's nothing in this man's background to suggest he has a violent or vindictive bone in his body." Mr Menon repeated his client's evidence to the jury during the trial that Ameer was "trying to disuade his cousin" Raees as he chased the Skoda up the A46.
Bhalraj Bhatia KC, defending Sanaf Gulammustafa, who was crying in the dock, stressed that his client had never heard of Ansreen or Mahek before the night of the crash and that his culpability level was low. He said: "Sanaf Gulammustafa was not a leader. He was a follower."
Before passing sentence, the judge heard from Natasha Akhtar's lawyer, John Cooper KC, who said the Seat Leon belonging to her should not be destroyed because she intends to appeal her conviction. He told the judge: "What your honour has before you is a broken young woman, ostracized by her family for bringing shame on them.
"She is still deeply and utterly broken. She is - as far as her family is concerned - now alone. The prison sentence she is about to serve will be particularly harsh on her."
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