TikTok influencer jailed for life for murdering mum's lover in attempt to stop him exposing affair
TikTok influencer Mahek Bukhari and her mother Ansreen Bukhari have been jailed for life at Leicester Crown Court.
The pair have a minimum term of 31 years and eight months and 26 years and nine months respectively for the murders of Saqib Hussain and Mohammed Hashim Ijazuddin in February 2022.
It all began when Mr Hussain threatened to release sexually explicit material to expose a long-running affair he had with her mother Ansreen.
Advert
As a result, the mother, 46, and daughter, 24, took part in an ambush attempt, in which prosecutors said Mr Hussain was 'lured' into meeting with the Bukharis in the Tesco car park in Hamilton, Leicester, with the promise of giving him back the £3,000 he said he had spent on taking his lover out during their relationship.
But instead, Ansreen and Mahek arrived at the arranged meet-up along with the six others in two vehicles, an Audi TT and a Seat Leon.
Mr Hussain then arrived at the car park in a Skoda Fabia, being driven by his friend Mr Ijuzaddin, who had said he would take him as a 'favour'.
Mr Hussain and Mr Ijazuddin were then ultimately victims of a high speed car chase on the A46 dual carriageway near Leicester, on 11 February 2022.
It was determined that Bukhari and her mother deliberately rammed the pair off the road.
And after a three-month trial and 28 hours of deliberation, jurors found that Bukhari and her mother were guilty of two counts of murder.
Mr Ijazuddin's father, Sikandar Hayat, said: "My heart has been ripped out and none of us will be the same again. None of us will truly smile again.
"All we have left is memories of our beloved son."
Judge Timothy Spencer 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."
He said: "TikTok and Instagram lie at the heart of this case. You, Mahek Bukhari, being an influencer on both platforms. That was the reason you dropped out of university.
"Had you not done so you would be a young graduate with your whole life ahead of you. But now you confine yourself to prison for all of your best years.
"It was the reason you, Ansreen Bukhari, became your daughter's chaperone but it was also the reason your head was turned towards the perceived glamour, far removed from the life you had lived until then as a mother and a housewife in Stoke-on-Trent."
Other defendants Rekan Karwan, 29, and Raees Jamal, 23, were also found guilty of two counts of murder.
Natasha Akhtar, 23, Ameer Jamal, 28, and Sanaf Gulamustafa, 23, were all found not guilty of murder, but guilty of two counts of manslaughter.
Another defendant, Mohammed Patel, was found not guilty of murder or manslaughter.
Anish Vij