A TikTok influencer, her mother and two men have been found guilty of murder after an argument over an affair led to a deadly high-speed chase.
Mahek Bukhari, 24, her mother Ansreen Bukhari, 46 (both from Stoke-on-Trent), Raees Jamal, 23 (from Loughborough), and Rekan Karwan, 29 (from Leicester), rammed a car off a dual carriageway instantly killing Saqib Hussain and Mohammed Hashim Ijazuddin, both 21.
The murder occurred on the A46 near Six Hills, Leicestershire, during the early hours of February 11 last year after their car crashed into a central reservation barrier and a tree.
Mr Hussain, who was a passenger in the car, had made a 999 call just seconds earlier stating that they were being chased by people in balaclavas, being rammed off the road and that they were going to die.
A murder investigation was launched which led to Ansreen Bukhari, Mahek Bukhari, Raees Jamal, Rekan Karwan, Sanaf Gulamustafa, Ameer Jamal, Natasha Akhtar and Mohammed Patel all being arrested and charged with the murder of Mr Hussain and Mr Ijazuddin.
Today, following a trial at Leicester Crown Court, Ansreen Bukhari, Mahek Bukhari, Raees Jamal and Rekan Karwan were found guilty of the murders of Saqib Hussain and Mohammed Hashim Ijazuddin.
Sanaf Gulamustafa, Ameer Jamal and Natasha Akhtar were found not guilty of murder but were found guilty of the manslaughter of Mr Hussain and Mr Ijazuddin.
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Enquiries carried out during the murder investigation showed Mr Hussain had been in relationship with Ansreen Bukhari for around three years. After Ansreen Bukhari, who was married, tried to end the affair, Mr Hussain made threats to expose the relationship to her husband and to share sexual images and videos of Ansreen Bukhari.
Ansreen Bukhari had offered to pay back money which Mr Hussain had spent during the relationship and it was arranged for Mr Hussain to meet with Ansreen Bukhari and her daughter Mahek Bukhari, who knew about the affair.
However, Ansreen and Mahek Bukhari arrived at the arranged meet-up in the Tesco car park in Hamilton, Leicester, along with the six other defendants. The eight defendants were in two vehicles – an Audi TT and a Seat Leon.
Mr Hussain then arrived at the car park in a Skoda Fabia, being driven by his friend Mr Ijuzaddin, who had said he would take him.
CCTV footage showed the Skoda Fabia arrive in the car park and then immediately leave. The Audi TT and Seat Leon followed the Skoda out of the car park two minutes later. The cars then ultimately ended up in a chase before the 999 call was made by Mr Hussain. The collision itself was not captured on CCTV.
Enquiries carried out by a force forensic collision investigator showed the Audi TT reached speeds of up to 100mph during the chase. The speed of the Skoda at the time of the collision was estimated at being in excess of 80mph. Damage found on the front of the Seat Leon was found to be consistent with colliding with the rear of the Skoda Fabia. The impact of the collision was found to have caused the Skoda to split into two and the engine of the car to detach from the body.
Both victims died immediately from multiple injuries, prior to fire taking hold.
Moreover, both the Audi TT and the Seat Leon were found to have driven past the crashed vehicle before later driving back past the collision site. None of the defendants called 999.
Family tributes
Folllowing the verdicts, the family of Saqib Hussain paid the following tribute:
“Saqib was a much-loved young man. He was kind, compassionate, caring and sensible. My family has been shattered by this senseless act and we are still struggling to come to terms with the enormity of our loss. I do not feel that we have received justice as we have now got a life sentence.
“We are grateful that the courts saw through all the lies attributed to my son Saqib. Thank God the jury saw through it and gave the verdicts our children deserve.
“Saqib’s death has brought so much sadness, not just to his family, but to the many people that knew him. I would like to thank those that have, and continue to provide overwhelming support to our family. A special thank you must also go to the police and CPS, our Family Liaison Officers, our victim support officer, our local schools and the local mosque.
“I never imagined that I would have to bury one of my children; that I would spend every waking moment suddenly expecting him to come back and tell me everything is ok; endlessly searching for his face whenever I am in public even though I know it is impossible.
“This grief of losing Saqib has further been compounded by having to relive the horror of my son’s death over and over again in court. My family and I would like to thank Leicestershire Police greatly for their diligence, thoroughness and painstaking hard work in ensuring that those responsible for Saqib’s death did not evade justice.
“We have hope and confidence that Saqib has found eternal rest with Our Lord, and that we will get to be with him again when we pass. We also pray that no family will have to go through our experience.
And the family of Mohammed Hashim Ijazuddin paid the following tribute:
“The day we found out Hashim had died, our world came crashing down. His death has changed everything. Everyone who knew Hashim, loved him. His death is not just a massive loss to our family but also to our whole community.
“Hashim was a cheeky young man who was always smiling, a handsome man who was beautiful both on the inside and out. He would do anything for anyone, was very caring and had a very kind heart.
“Hashim would always put others first and wouldn’t hesitate to help others if they needed it. On that tragic day, he was simply helping his friend and this resulted in his death.
“It has been extremely painful not only losing Hashim at such a young age but also in the circumstances in which we lost him.
“We will always be extremely proud of Hashim. Whatever he would have done in life, we know he would have excelled in it. Hashim was and will always be our superstar and our one-in-a-million.
“The family would like to thank the police, the CPS and the prosecuting counsel and everyone else who supported and prayed for Hashim and for us.”
And 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.
“My thoughts at this time remain with Mr Hussain and Mr Ijazuddin and their families. The past 16 months has been an extremely difficult and heart-breaking time for both families. They have not only had to come to terms with losing a family member in the most horrific way but have then had to hear extremely distressing details of this in court, waiting for justice to be done. My heartfelt thanks go to them for their bravery, support and co-operation throughout this time.”
All those convicted have been remanded in custody and are due to be sentenced on September 1.
