TikTok star Mahek Bukhari is among eight people standing trial for murder in Leicester following the deaths of Mohammed Hashim Ijazuddin and Saqib Hussain in a car wreck on the A46 in February this year
The trial of eight people alleged to have murdered two friends by ramming their car off the A46 earlier this year is set to continue today. Among those on trial is a TikTok influencer, Mahek Bukhari, who had about 126,000 followers on the social media site, and her mother Ansreen.
Mohammed Hashim Ijazuddin and Saqib Hussain died following the crash in the early hours of Friday, February 11, this year. The pair, friends from Banbury in Oxfordshire, were pronounced dead at the scene close to Six Hills in Leicestershire.
A jury at Leicester Crown Court was sworn in on Tuesday (October 18) but the trial was then put on hold. All the defendants were charged with murder following a lengthy investigation by Leicestershire Police, but all eight have denied the charge.
The jury has already heard how Saqib had been in a three-year extra-marital affair with Ansreen, which had ended about a month before the two mens’ deaths. Saqib tried to blackmail Ansreen, demanding £2,000 in return for promising not to share explicit photographs of Ansreen that he had previously threatened to make “viral” on the internet.
It is alleged Ansreen and her famous daughter recruited six others and ambushed the met at Tesco in Hamilton, Leicester, intending to take Saqib’s mobile phone to stop him ever sharing the pictures. There was then, allegedly, a chase up the A46 of speeds up to 100mph with two cars pursuing the two young men, eventually ramming it off the road, where it hit a tree, split in two and burst into flames.
The trial is expected to last around eight weeks. That would mean it ends just before Christmas.
The prosecution case – which will be the first stage of the trial – is expected to last several days and include witnesses who will be cross-examined by the defence team. After this, all eight defendants will have the chance to lay out their version of events to counter the prosecution case.
Judge His Honour Mr Justice Saini laid out the importance of the trial to the jurors on Tuesday. He told them: “As will be obvious to you, this is a serious and important case and it is going to require your full attention.”
The eight defendants are:
- Natasha Akhtar, (aged 22), of Alum Rock Road, Birmingham
- Ansreen Bukhari, (45), of George Eardley Close, Stoke
- Mahek Bukhari, (23), of George Eardley Close, Stoke
- Raees Jamal, (22), of Lingdale Close, Loughborough
- Rekan Karwan, (28), of Tomlin Road, Leicester
- Mohammed Patel, (20), of Braybrooke Road, Leicester
- Sanaf Gulammustafa, (22), of Littlemore Close, Crown Hills, Leicester
- Ammeer Jamal, (27), of Catherine Street, Belgrave, Leicester
