First trial in TikTok murder plot halted after 'racist' jury member's comments
The first trial of a TikTok murderer who hatched an evil plot to murder her mum's young lover was halted after claims of 'racism' among the jury.
Influencer Mahek Bukhari and seven others were on trial last year for their part in the deaths of Hashim Ijazuddin and Saqib Hussain in a horror high speed crash on the A46 in Leicester. Now that those involved have been jailed following a second trial, it has been revealed that in the final week of that first trial, there was a "heated" argument in the jury room, with one juror accusing another of being racist.
The two jurors were asked to explain the argument and while one woman said she had been shocked by the other's racist views about incest and sinister "connections" between the Asian and Middle Eastern defendants, the second juror wrote a note that confirmed they were unfit to continue as a juror, the judge decided.
It was also decided that just dismissing the one racist juror would not be enough, due to suggestions in their note that other jurors also agreed with the "shocking" racist views they held, Leicestershire Live reports.
Mahek Bukhari and mum Ansreen, who were at the centre of the plot to kill Saqib HussainA statement issued in early December last year by Mr Justice Saini, the judge in the first trial, reads: "The trial began in early October 2022 and is now in its closing stages.
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"During a mid-morning break I received a message from an usher that there was a heated verbal altercation taking place between two jurors. I asked that they be separated from one another, and that they each send me a note of their concerns. I was informed that Juror B was very upset about being “called out” as a “racist” by Juror A.
"Juror B’s note is an explanation of why she was upset about being accused of being racist. However, the contents of Juror B’s note, no doubt intended to defend that juror’s actions and explain why they were upset, revealed matters of serious concern as to whether Juror B and others within the panel were faithfully adhering to their oaths and affirmations.
"The terms of Juror B’s note are disgraceful. Juror B’s views, and those potentially of other jurors, who appear to have been a party to discussions with Juror B, have no place in British society in 2022. They are even more shocking when one considers they may represent views of those from such a richly diverse community as Leicester and its surrounding areas, from which the jury was drawn."
He went on to say that Juror B had "racist attitudes towards Asians on that Juror’s part and potentially on the part of those of other jurors who appear to have been party to discussions with Juror B". He said: "Juror B’s note suggests to me that this individual may subscribe to highly negative stereotypes of Asians and seems to have been party to bizarre suggestions, never in issue in this case, of the defendants 'all committing incest', of the defendants sleeping with one another, and of having not disclosed this in their evidence.
Saqib Hussain (left) died alongside his friend Hashim Ijazuddin (right) on the A46 in February last year (Leicester Mercury / BPM Media)"The reference to it is pure prejudice based on what I can only regard as racist assumptions about those of Asian heritage. What is more worrying is that Juror B and others also appear to have engaged in wild speculation of some undisclosed 'connections within the group of defendants and others outside of the group'.
"Again, this is suggestive of some sinister non-disclosed connections importing wrongdoing." He said it was "hard to see" how Juror B and others could “faithfully try the defendants and give true verdicts according to the evidence” as they swore or affirmed they would do at the start of the trial.
Today, Bukhari, her mum Ansreen and pals Raees Jamal and Rekan Karwan were all jailed for life for Saqib and Hashim's murders. Three others - Natasha Akhtar, Ameer Jamal and Sanaf Gulamustafa have been handed lengthy sentences for manslaughter.
The murders of the two men came about after Saqib threatened to expose the three-year affair with Ansreen with a sex tape. 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.
They lured him to collect the £3,000 he was blackmailing the mum for, only to kill him and innocent Hashim by ramming the Skoda Fabia they were driving off the road and into the central reservation.
During the sentencing hearing, 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."
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