TikTok influencer Mahek Bukhari and mother found guilty of double murder after sex tape threat
TikTok influencer Mahek Bukhari sobbed in the dock as she was found guilty of murdering her mother’s lover and his friend in a high-speed car chase.
Her mother Ansreen Bukhari was also found guilty of the murders following a trial at Leicester Crown Court.
Saqib Hussain and Mohammed Hashim Ijazuddin, both 21, died when their Skoda “virtually split in two” and caught fire after leaving the A46 dual carriageway near Leicester before hitting a tree in the early hours of 11 February 2022.
Just before he died, front-seat passenger Mr Hussain made a 999 call to police claiming Mr Ijazuddin’s silver Skoda Fabia was being “blocked in” and rammed by attackers wearing balaclavas who had been following them in two cars.
In a recording of the call played to Leicester Crown Court, he said: “They’re trying to ram us off the road. Please, I’m begging you, I’m going to die.”
He also said “Oh my God”, before there was a scream and the call cut off at the sound of an impact.
The court heard they were deliberately rammed off the road in an “ambush” after Mr Hussain threatened to use a sex tape to expose his long-running affair with the influencer’s 46-year-old mother.
Bukhari, 24, and her mother, from Stoke-on-Trent, denied two counts of murder but were convicted by jurors after more than 28 hours of deliberations.
Fellow defendants Rekhan Karwan and Raees Jamal were also found guilty of two counts of murder – while Natasha Akhtar, Ameer Jamal and Sanaf Gulamustafa were all found not guilty of murder, but guilty of two counts of manslaughter.
Mohammed Patel was found not guilty of murder or manslaughter.
Victim ‘lured’ into meeting Bukharis
Prosecutors said Mr Hussain was “lured” into meeting the Bukharis on the pretence of giving him back the £3,000 he said he had spent taking his lover out during their tryst.
Instead, Mr Hussain and Mr Ijazuddin, who had driven his friend to Leicester for the meeting as a “favour”, were ambushed and then chased before the fatal crash.
Speaking outside Leicester Crown Court following the verdicts, Mr Hussain’s father Sajad said the grief of losing his son has been “further compounded by having to relive the horror over and over each day we’ve been in court”.
He added that he prayed “no family will ever go through what we had to go through.”
‘Kind-hearted’ victim was ‘simply helping a friend’
Mr Ijazuddin’s uncle Anser Hussain said his nephew was “one in a million”.
“The day we found out Hashim had died, our world came crashing down,” he added. “His death has changed everything for not just our family, but the whole community.
“He was a cheeky young man who was always smiling. A handsome man who was beautiful on the inside and out. He would do anything for anyone. He was caring and very kind-hearted.
“He would always put others first. On that tragic day, he was simply helping a friend by giving him a lift which resulted in his death in such a harsh manner.”
The defendants will be sentenced on 1 September.
Before remanding them into custody, the judge, Timothy Spencer KC, said: “You know the sentence will be very serious.”
‘A callous and cold-blooded attack’
Leicestershire Police’s senior investigating officer in the case, Detective Inspector Mark Parish, said: “This was a callous and cold-blooded attack which ultimately cost two men their lives.
“After setting Mr Hussain and Mr Ijazuddin up, chasing them at high speed and then ultimately ramming their car off the road, none of the defendants made any attempt to help the victims or to call for help. Instead they drove on and then even drove back past the collision site. Still no one attempted to offer any help.
“As the defendants found guilty were arrested, charged and stood trial before a court, lies were continually told in order to try and cover their tracks. Their only concern during the whole incident and investigation has been for themselves.”