TikTok influencer found guilty of murdering her mother's ex-lover and his friend

A social media influencer has been found guilty of murdering her mother's lover and his friend in a deliberate high-speed crash on a main road in Leicestershire.

Mahek Bukhari, who is 23 and from Stoke-on-Trent, arranged for a gang to kill Saqib Hussain. He died in the crash on the A46 in Leicestershire, along with his friend Mohammed Hashim Ijazuddin, on 11 February 2022.

Her mother, Ansreen Bukhari, 45, was also in on the killing, and has been found guilty of murder.

Two men, Raes Jamal, 22, from Loughborough, and Rekan Karwan, 28, from Leicester, have been found guilty of the same charge.

Three others, Natasha Akthtar, Ameer Jamal, Sanaf Gulammustafa have been convicted of manslaughter.

While Mohammed Patel has been found not guilty of all charges.

Jurors at Leicester Crown Court deliberated for 28 hours following the three-month trial.

Following the verdicts, members of both victims' families gathered on the court steps to pay tribute to the men.

Saqib Hussain's father Sajad said his son was "kind, compassionate, caring and sensible". While Anser Hussein, the uncle of Mohammed Hashim Ijazzudin, said his nephew "would do anything for anyone", and "on that tragic day he was simply helping a friend with a lift, which resulted in his death".

What happened?

Saqib Hussain, from Banbury in Oxfordshire, had been in a three-year relationship with Ansreen Bukhari who was married.

But when Mrs Bukhari ended the relationship and refused to answer his calls, he became obsessive. He threatened to send explicit images and videos of her to her husband and son, in the hope she would speak to him. The blackmail included demands for cash.

During the trial, prosecutor Collingwood Thompson KC said Mahek Bhukari told her mother not to worry - that she would get some "guys to jump" Saqib Hussain and he "wouldn't know what's hit him".

Leicester Crown Court was told a meeting with Mr Hussain was arranged at the Tesco car park in Hamilton, Leicester on 11 February 2022. It was, the prosecution said, a plan to cause serious harm, if not to kill him.

He arrived in a silver Skoda Fabia driven by Mohammed Hashim Ijazuddin, also from Banbury. The prosecution claimed they were unaware this was a trap.

Two other cars were also there, waiting for them. An ambush with the aim of seizing the phone containing the naked photos of Mrs Bukhari.

Inside the Seat Leon and Audi TT were Mahek Bukhari, her mother Ansreen and six others, including Mr Jamal and Mr Karwan.

The Skoda paused briefly. The court was told Mr Hussain and his friend panicked and sped off when they saw the cars and the number of people inside - some of whom were wearing balaclavas.

The Seat and Audi followed.

They chased the Skoda, at high speed, and eventually all three cars were heading towards the A46 dual carriageway.

By now, it was just after midnight. Saqib Hussain was in the passenger seat of the Skoda. He made a desperate call to 999.

He told the operator, "I'm being followed by two cars, they're trying to block me in. I need help now. They're trying to kill me, I'm getting rammed off the road. Please I'm begging you."

He was then heard to say "Oh my God". There was a scream and the call cut off abruptly before the crash.

The car then hit the central reservation, flew into the air, hit a tree, and then burst into flames.

The police investigation moved quickly.

Just six hours later, police were at Bhukari family home, where Mahek lied about where she'd been with her mother that night.

She told police; "First we stayed here, and then we went straight to Nottingham." She confirmed they had been out in their Audi.

Police described the Seat as a weapon which rammed the Skoda off the road at 80 miles per hour. It was driven by Raes Jamal and the driver of the Audi TT, which was used to box the Skoda in, was Rekan Karwan.

When Mahek Bukhari was arrested, the lies continued. She told police that she was behind the wheel of the Audi, and that the silver Skoda was being driven recklessly.

She said; "This other car, you could hear, like, a bang. Not a big bang, it was like a hit behind me basically. This other car's hit the blue car."

But jurors didn't believe the former Tiktok influencer's claims. And she, along with her mother and five others, have been convicted of killing two men.

Detective Inspector Mark Parish, from Leicestershire Police told how the killers not only rammed their victims' car off the road, they made no attempt to help them, drove on, and even drove back past the collision site later on.