A “self-obsessed” TikTok influencer has been sentenced to life in prison with a minimum term of 31 years and eight months for her involvement in the murder of two men. The victims died in a fireball when their car was rammed off the road during a high-speed chase outside Leicester.
Mahek Bukhari, 24, blew a kiss to her father as she was sentenced alongside her mother, Ansreen Bukhari, who received a minimum term of 26 years and nine months for the double murder.
During the three-month trial at Leicester crown court, it was revealed that the pair were part of a group that lured the victims to a Tesco car park in February last year before pursuing them at speeds of up to 100mph.
Saqib Hussain and Mohammed Hashim Ijazuddin, both 21 and from Banbury in Oxfordshire, died instantly when their car was rammed off the road, hit a tree, and caught fire.
Co-defendants Rekhan Karwan, 29, and Raees Jamal, 23, were also sentenced to life in prison with minimum terms of 26 years and 10 months and 31 years respectively for two counts of murder.
Natasha Akhtar, 23, was sentenced to 11 years and eight months in prison, while Ameer Jamal, 28, and Sanaf Gulamustafa, 23, received sentences of 14 years and eight months and 14 years and nine months respectively for two counts of manslaughter.
During the sentencing, Judge Timothy Spencer KC stated that Mahek Bukhari’s “tawdry fame” as an influencer made her “utterly self-obsessed.”
He added, “TikTok and Instagram are at the heart of this case. That is the reason you, Mahek, dropped out of university. Had you not done so, you would now be a young graduate with your whole life ahead of you. Now, you constrain yourself to prison for all of your best years.”
Judge Spencer also mentioned that Ansreen Bukhari’s “head was turned” by the “perceived glamour” of the influencer world, which led to her starting an affair with Hussain. He described it as a world far removed from her previous life as a mother and housewife in Stoke-on-Trent.
The trial revealed that Hussain reacted negatively when Ansreen attempted to end their relationship. He threatened to send sexually explicit photos to her husband if she did not repay him £3,000 that he claimed to have spent on her.
In the early hours of February 11 last year, Mahek arranged to meet Hussain at a car park in Leicester under the pretense of giving him the money. She arrived at the scene with a group of eight people, many of whom were wearing face coverings and at least one person carrying a weapon.
When Hussain and his close friend Ijazuddin, who had offered him a ride, arrived at the car park, they quickly fled the scene. The group pursued them at high speed, resulting in the fatal crash.
In a 999 call made by Hussain moments before his death, he said, “There’s guys following me. They’ve got balaclavas on. They’re trying to ram me off the road. They’re trying to kill me – I’m going to die.”
Judge Spencer described the call as “one of the most moving and distressing pieces of evidence ever heard in a…
2023-09-01 10:56:37
Article from www.theguardian.com
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