TikTok influencer Mahek Bukhari has murder sentence reduced

A TikTok influencer who murdered her mother’s lover and his friend in a high-speed car chase has had her sentenced reduced by the Court of Appeal.

Mahek Bukhari was jailed for a minimum of 31 years and eight months in September 2023 for her involvement in the murders of Saqib Hussain and Hashim Ijazuddin, both 21, in February 2022.

However, on Friday the term was cut to 26 years and 285 days after appeal judges agreed the sentence had not taken into account her young age.

Another three people – part of the original seven jailed for the killings – have also had their sentences reduced.

Reading a summary of the ruling in court, Lord Justice Warby said: “The judge did not make enough allowance for the fact that this appellant [Mahek Bukhari] was an immature 22-year-old at the time of these offences.”

The murder trial heard the killings followed attempts by Mahek’s mother – Ansreen Bukhari – to break off her affair with Mr Hussain, who had threatened to release sexually explicit material of her if she did not pay him £3,000.

Prosecutors claimed Mr Hussain and Mr Ijazuddin, from Banbury in Oxfordshire, were “lured” to “one last meeting” with the Bukharis in a Tesco car park in Hamilton, Leicester, under the pretence of returning the money.

But the Bukharis and others ambushed the pair, chasing Mr Ijazuddin’s Skoda along the A46 in Leicester in two vehicles, deliberately ramming them off the road, the trial heard.

At the Court of Appeal hearing in London on 17 October, Mahek’s barrister had argued her age and “lack of maturity” should have led to a shorter sentence.

Christopher Millington KC said before the Bukharis decided to travel from their home near Stoke-on-Trent to Leicester, Saqib Hussain had threatened to release the sexually explicit material he had of Ansreen.

However Lord Justice Warby said Mahek’s response to the blackmail was “disproportionate” and it was “hard to see any real link between any of Saqib’s behaviour and the events on the A46 that led to his death”.

Despite this, he agreed Mahek’s “youth and her acknowledged immaturity were given far too little weight”, and should have “exerted a substantial downward pressure on the minimum term”.

Ansreen Bukhari, Rekan Karwan and Raees Jamal were also jailed for murder.

Natasha Akhtar, Ameer Jamal and Sanaf Gulamustafa were jailed for manslaughter. Akhtar was sentenced to 11 years and eight months, Ameer Jamal was given 14 years and eight months and Gulamustafa was sentenced to 14 years and nine months in prison.

Lord Justice Warby, Mr Justice Lavender and Judge Sylvia De Bertodano also ruled the manslaughter sentences given to Akhtar, Gulamustafa and Ameer Jamal were excessive.

Jamal’s sentence was reduced to 12 years and eight months, while Gulamustafa had his term cut to 12 years and nine months and Akhtar’s was reduced to nine years and eight months.

Lord Justice Warby added: “It seems to us indisputable that the car chase carried a high risk of death or really serious harm and that this should have been obvious to all those in each car.”

But he continued that the “minor role played by each” of them should have had a “powerful downward impact” on the sentences, and reduced each by two years.

He said: “In our view, the judge erred in striking the overall balance of aggravation and mitigation.

“The sentences for all these appellants were manifestly excessive. They could and should have been substantially lower.”