By David Young And Lucy Caulkett-
In a courtroom filled with sorrow and disbelief, Mahek Bukhari, a 24-year-old TikTok influencer, and her mother, Ansreen Bukhari, aged 46, were sentenced to life in prison for their involvement in a chilling and deliberate high-speed crash that claimed the lives of two young men.
The men Saqib Hussain and Mohammed Hashim Ijazuddin were killed for blackmailing Bukhari to return £3,000 he spent on dates with her, or face the fate of having raunchy sex tapes revealed to her husband.
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What the killers were desperate to keep secret is now out for the whole world to hear, in news that by any standard is worthy of international attention.
On Friday, Mahek Bukhari was sentenced to life with a minimum of 31 years and eight months in prison, while Ansreen Bukhari also received a life sentence, and was jailed for a minimum of 26 years and nine months.
Rekan Karwan, 29, who brought in Raees Jamal, 23, to help carry out the murders after Bukhari approached him, was also jailed for life with a minimum of 26 years and 10 months and 31 years respectively for two counts of murder.
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Three others, were found not guilty of murder, but guilty of manslaughter, were also sentenced.
Tragic Events
The tragic events unfolded in February of 2022, revealing a web of obsession, manipulation, and ultimately, a shocking act of cold-blooded murder.
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.
The motive of the murder was the threat by Mr Hussain to reveal the secret love affair he and Ansreen Bukhari had been having.
The presiding judge said Ansreen had made the “calamitous” decision of putting the response to the sex tape threat against her in her daughter’s hands.
Mr Hussain and Mr Ijazuddin were “lured” into meeting with the Bukharis in a Tesco car park on the pretence of paying him back the £3,000 he said he had spent on taking his lover out on dates.
A Tragic Love Triangle Unveiled
The chilling narrative that emerged during the trial revealed the complex dynamics of a love triangle gone awry.
Saqib Hussain, a 21-year-old from Banbury in Oxfordshire, had been involved in a tumultuous three-year relationship with Ansreen Bukhari, a married woman.
However, when Mrs. Bukhari ended the affair and cut off communication, Saqib’s obsession took a dark turn.
He began threatening to expose explicit images and videos of her to her husband and son, unless she spoke to him. His demands were often coupled with demands for cash.
During the trial, prosecutor Collingwood Thompson KC unveiled a disturbing conversation in which Mahek Bukhari assured her mother that she would have “guys jump” Saqib Hussain, ensuring he “wouldn’t know what’s hit him.” It was a sinister foreshadowing of the events that would follow.
The Fatal Meeting
The tragic chain of events culminated on February 11, 2022, in a Tesco car park in Hamilton, Leicester.
The prosecution argued that it was a premeditated plan to cause severe harm to Saqib Hussain, if not to outright kill him.
Saqib arrived at the location in a silver Skoda Fabia, driven by his friend Mohammed Hashim Ijazuddin, also from Banbury. Tragically, they were unaware that they were walking into a trap.
Waiting for them were Mahek Bukhari, her mother Ansreen, and six others, including Mr. Jamal and Mr. Karwan, inside a Seat Leon and Audi TT.
The plan was to seize the phone containing explicit photos of Mrs. Bukhari and abort the threat in hand.
As the Skoda paused briefly, the sight of multiple cars filled with people, some wearing balaclavas, prompted panic. Saqib Hussain and Mohammed Hashim Ijazuddin sped off, desperately trying to escape the looming danger.
A Terrifying Pursuit
The Seat and Audi gave chase at an alarming speed, relentlessly pursuing the Skoda. As tensions escalated, all three cars hurtled towards the A46 dual carriageway, sealing the fates of those involved in this horrifying ordeal.
What transpired next was a tragedy of unimaginable proportions. The Skoda, carrying Saqib and Mohammed Hashim Ijazuddin, split in two and erupted in flames upon leaving the dual carriageway and colliding with a tree in the early hours of the morning.
Two promising lives were extinguished in an instant, leaving a trail of devastation and heartache.
As the verdict was read out at Leicester Crown Court, Mahek Bukhari, who once enjoyed a following on social media, could be seen wiping away tears in the dock. The weight of her actions and the consequences had finally caught up with her.
The court had found both mother and daughter guilty of murder earlier this month after a grueling three-month trial and 28 hours of jury deliberations.
The Judge’s Stinging Words
Presiding over the case, Judge Timothy Spencer KC delivered a scathing assessment of Mahek Bukhari’s character, describing her as “self-obsessed” with an exaggerated sense of entitlement.
He pointedly remarked, “You are oblivious to the damage you do.” The judge left no room for ambiguity as he declared the case to be “one of cold-blooded murder.”
During the sentencing, he expounded: “The prosecution categorized this as a story of love, obsession, and extortion, and in that, they were right.” The severity of the sentences was evident as Mahek Bukhari received a term of 31 years and eight months, while her mother, Ansreen, was also handed a life sentence with a minimum term of 26 years and nine months.
In the wake of this harrowing tragedy, words fail to capture the profound impact on the lives of the victims’ families. The loss of Saqib Hussain and Mohammed Hashim Ijazuddin reverberates as a stark reminder of the tragic consequences of obsession, manipulation, and the ultimate betrayal of trust.
As the Bukhari mother-daughter duo begins their life sentences, a community grapples with the heartache of lives lost too soon and the darkness that can consume even the brightest of futures.
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