A TikTok influencer and her mother have been found guilty of murdering two men in a high-speed car chase because one of them had threatened to use sexually explicit photos exposing an affair with the older woman.
Saqib Hussain and Mohammed Hashim Ijazuddin, both 21, died when their car was rammed off left the A46 near Leicester after the pair had been lured to a car park, then ambushed.
A three-month trial at Leicester Crown Court heard that their deaths had been a “story of love, obsession, extortion and, ultimately, the Crown allege – cold-blooded murder”.
Saqib Hussain died in a car crash in Leicestershire last year, along with Mohammed Hashim Ijazuddin— (PA Media)
Mr Hussain had threatened to reveal a three-year affair he had with 46-year-old Ansreen Bukhari – the mother of YouTube and TikTok content creator Mahek Bukhari – to her husband and son after she had tried to break up with him.
The daughter sobbed in the dock as the guilty verdicts were delivered.
In a recording played to jurors, Mr Hussain made a desperate 999 call to police moments before he was killed on 11 February last year, claiming he was being pursued by balaclava-wearing assailants.
He said: “They’re trying to kill me, they’re trying to kill me. I’m just getting rammed off the road.” He added: “Please, I am begging you” followed by: “Oh my God”, before there was a scream and the call abruptly ended at the sound of an impact.
Mahek Bukhari, 24, and her mother, both of George Eardley Close, Tunstall, Stoke-on-Trent, had denied two counts of murder.
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.
Mahek Bukhari— (Leicestershire Police)
Mohammed Patel was found not guilty of murder or manslaughter.
Mr Hussain’s family told detectives after his death he had been in a relationship with an older woman who was married with children. He had “appeared to be in love”, they said.
But by January last year, she wished to end the relationship, but Mr Hussain sent her messages and became “increasingly obsessive”.
After she refused to return his calls, he decided to blackmail her by threatening to send sexually explicit images to her husband and son.
Ansreen Bukhari— (Leicestershire Police)
On 4 January, Mahek Bukhair sent her mother a message that read: “I’ll get him jumped by guys and he won’t know what day it is.”
When Mr Hussain also tried to contact her to get her mother to reply to him, the TikTok influencer replied: “She ain’t a dog, don’t f****** raise your voice and tell me what to do.” She then told him: “I am sorry that this year you’ll be gone, Saqib,” the court heard.
Mahek Bukhari’s friend Karwan, 29, of Leicester, was brought in to help negotiate money with Mr Hussain, in a bid to “silence” him.
Jamal, 22, of Loughborough, “recruited” others, including Akhtar, 23, Gulammustafa, 23, Ameer Jamal, 28, and Patel, 21, jurors were told.
The court heard how “completely innocent” Mr Ijazuddin had agreed to drive Mr Hussain to Leicester and had been “in the wrong place at the wrong time”.
Mohammed Hashim Ijazuddin was ‘in the wrong place at the wrong time’— (PA Media)
Prosecutors said Mr Hussain was “lured” into meeting with the Bukharis on the pretence of giving him back the £3,000 he said he had spent on taking his lover out.
The two men, from Banbury in Oxfordshire, quickly became suspicious and sped away in their Skoda Fabia, but were pursued by a Seat Leon and an Audi TT containing the defendants, before being rammed off the road.
The court was told Mr Ijazuddin’s car split in two and caught fire after hitting a tree.
Jurors deliberated for more than 28 hours before finding the pair guilty of two counts of murder.
After the verdicts, Mr Ijazuddin’s uncle, Anser Hussain, said his nephew was “one in a million”.
He said: “The day we found out Hashim had died, our world came crashing down. His death has changed everything for not just our family, but the whole community.
Mahek Bukhari seen posing for a video with her mother on TikTok— (Screengrab)
“Everyone who knew Hashim loved him. His death is not just a massive loss to our family, but a massive loss to everyone who knew him.
“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.
“We will always be proud of him. Hashim was and always will be one in a million.”
Mr Hussain’s father, Sajad, said his grief had been further compounded “by having to relive the horror over and over each day we’ve been in court”.
He said: “My family and I would like to thank Leicestershire Police greatly for their fairness, diligence and painstaking hard work ensuring that those responsible for Saqib and Hashim’s death could not evade justice...
“We also pray that no family will ever go through what we had to go through.”
Mahek Bukhari (right) and her mother Ansreen Bukhari— (PA)
The defendants will be sentenced on 1 September.
Before remanding them into custody, judge Timothy Spencer KC warned them: “You know the sentence will be very serious.”
He thanked the jury and excused them from further jury duty for the next 30 years.
