A barrister who plotted with a gangster client to track down and seriously injure a man who had shot him has been jailed for three years and three months.
Samreen Akhtar, 38, of Huddersfield, was sentenced at Manchester Crown Court yesterday after being convicted of encouraging or assisting the commission of grievous bodily harm with intent.
West Yorkshire Police said Akhtar was working as a barrister when she became embroiled in a violent feud between rival drug gangs in Kirklees.
Her client, career criminal Tabish Ali, was shot and injured on Blacker Road in Huddersfield on September 14, 2021.
The following day, Akhtar spoke to Ali by telephone and proposed finding the person responsible so that he could be seriously injured.
The conversation was covertly recorded by police, with court reports revealing that Akhtar suggested offering a £10,000 reward to anyone who could reveal the gunman’s whereabouts.
“Put the word out and say reward for £10,000 for whoever can disclose his location,” she told Ali.
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Akhtar then described what should happen if the man was found, saying: “We get him, we kick the f*** out of him and we send him back with broken legs to whoever sent him.”
According to evidence presented in court, Ali himself pushed back against the proposal and said he did not want to become involved in a “tit-for-tat” cycle of violence.
Akhtar responded: “We don’t have to take it that far. You don’t have to get your hands dirty if that’s what you are going to want.”
Police said the attempted murder of Ali was believed to have been connected to an escalating turf war between drug-dealing gangs in Kirklees which had involved numerous violent and firearms incidents since 2018.
Ali was himself subsequently convicted of murder.
He was charged in October 2021 with killing Jamal Nedd, who was shot outside his home on Ripon Avenue, Huddersfield, on December 19, 2020, as he was driving his mother to work.
Ali and two other men were convicted of Mr Nedd’s murder and given life sentences in July 2022.
Barrister arrested
Akhtar was arrested by detectives in February 2022 and charged in March 2023 under the Serious Crime Act 2007 with encouraging or assisting the commission of an indictable offence, namely inflicting grievous bodily harm with intent.
She denied the offence but was convicted by a majority verdict following a five-day trial at Manchester Crown Court in June this year.
The Crown Prosecution Service previously said Akhtar had spoken to Ali the day after he was shot and suggested that they “locate and cause serious harm” to the person responsible.
Detective Inspector Paul Hutchinson, who led the West Yorkshire Police investigation, said Akhtar should have been acutely aware of her responsibilities because of her position within the criminal justice system.
“As a professional working in the criminal justice system, Samreen Akhtar would have been acutely aware of her legal and moral responsibilities, but she chose to act outside of those to plot revenge with a dangerous criminal involved in a violent gang feud which included the brutal execution of a rival, for which he was later convicted,” he said.
“In doing so, she became a criminal herself and showed a complete disregard for the standards that are expected of those in the legal profession, and also for the significant negative impact that gang-related violence and criminality have on our communities.”
DI Hutchinson said police would continue to pursue people involved in serious organised crime “no matter what their role or occupation”.
Previous CPS dismissal
Details disclosed at Akhtar’s sentencing also revealed that this was not the first time she had faced serious professional problems.
Prosecutor Benjamin Lloyd told Manchester Crown Court that Akhtar had been dismissed by the Crown Prosecution Service in 2018 for gross misconduct.
According to court reporting, she had accessed the criminal record of her then-partner, photographed it and sent the information to him via WhatsApp, breaching data protection rules.
She subsequently moved into private criminal defence work.
Akhtar had originally completed her pupillage with the CPS and specialised in criminal law.
Her subsequent conviction represents a dramatic reversal for a barrister who had previously been publicly promoted as an example of social mobility within the legal profession.
In 2020, the Bar Council selected Akhtar as one of 10 social mobility advocates for its #IAmTheBar campaign, which sought to highlight barristers from state-school and disadvantaged backgrounds and encourage others to consider careers at the Bar.
Akhtar, the daughter of a mechanic, grew up in Huddersfield and studied law at the University of Huddersfield.
Speaking about her background in 2020, she said she was of Pashtun heritage and had broken with tradition by continuing her education after the age of 16, while stressing that her parents had supported her studies.
She later established her own criminal defence practice, Aventus Chambers.
Suspended from practising
The Bar Standards Board suspended Akhtar from practising as a barrister with immediate effect on July 3 following her conviction.
An independent interim suspension panel considered her case on July 27 and ordered that she remain suspended until the BSB or a disciplinary tribunal has concluded the proceedings against her, or orders otherwise.
The BSB says interim suspension powers are used in serious and urgent cases where restrictions may be necessary to protect the public and clients while disciplinary proceedings are considered.
Akhtar was called to the Bar in 2010.
Her criminal conviction and imprisonment now leave her facing separate professional disciplinary proceedings.
