TikTok influencer who murdered her mother’s lover in high-speed car chase has sentence reduced following appeal

Mahek Bukhari was originally jailed for a minimum of 31 years and eight months in 2023, alongside her mother, Ansreen, who was sentenced to at least 26 years and nine months for their roles in the murders of Saqib Hussain and Mohammed Hashim Ijazuddin.

Mahek challenged her sentence at the Court of Appeal earlier this month, where her legal team argued the minimum term was “wholly disproportionate”.

In a judgment delivered on Friday, Lord Justice Warby, Mr Justice Lavender and Judge Sylvia De Bertodano ruled that her sentence was “manifestly excessive”, cutting the minimum term to 26 years and 285 days.

Announcing the decision, Lord Justice Warby said the trial judge had not given sufficient weight to the fact that Bukhari was an “immature 22-year-old” when the crimes took place.

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Evidence presented at Leicester Crown Court showed the murders followed Ansreen’s unsuccessful attempts to end her relationship with Mr Hussain.

The court heard that Mr Hussain had blackmailed her for over £3,000, which he claimed to have spent during their affair.

Prosecutors said Mr Hussain and Mr Ijazuddin, both 21 and from Banbury in Oxfordshire, were “lured” to a Tesco car park in Hamilton, Leicester, by the Bukharis, who claimed they would repay the money. Instead, the men were ambushed and chased along the A46, where their Skoda was rammed off the road.

One of the cars is believed to have reached speeds of up to 100mph during the chase.

In the Court of Appeal’s judgment, Lord Justice Warby described Mahek’s reaction to Mr Hussain’s blackmail as “disproportionate”, adding that it was “hard to see any real connection between Saqib’s behaviour and the events on the A46 that led to his death”.

In a 999 call moments after the collision, Mr Hussain told the emergency services that his car had been “rammed off the road”, adding: “I’m begging you, I’m gonna die.”

At a hearing on October 17, Mahek’s barrister, Christopher Millington KC, argued that her age and “lack of maturity” should have been taken into greater account when her sentence was set.

He told the court: “None of this, we submit, was reflected in the fixing of the minimum term as it should have been.”

The Crown Prosecution Service contested the appeal.

Collingwood Thompson KC, representing the CPS, accepted that Mr Hussain had “undoubtedly” blackmailed Bukhari, but argued that although the sentence was “tough”, it was not “manifestly excessive”.