A TikTok influencer and her mother have been sentenced to life in prison for murdering two men who died when their car was rammed off the road
Mahek Bukhari, 24, will serve a minimum of 31 years and eight months in prison and her mother Ansreen Bukhari, 46, will serve 26 years and nine months
Passing sentence, Judge Timothy Spencer KC said "TikTok and Instagram lie at the heart of the case", calling it one of "cold-blooded murder"
Saqib Hussain and Hashim Ijazuddin, both 21, from Oxfordshire, were killed in a crash near Leicester in February last year
Hussain had threatened to reveal a long-running affair he and Ansreen Bukhari had been having
Rekan Karwan, 29, and Raees Jamal, 23, who were recruited by the Bukharis and were driving the pursuing cars, have also been jailed for life for murder
Natasha Akhtar, 23, Ameer Jamal, 28, and Sanaf Gulamustafa, 23, were cleared of murder but found guilty of two counts of manslaughter
The judge now addresses Ansreen Bukhari in court.
He says "you are the grown-up adult" in the group of defendants, and she should have behaved like one.
He continues there were "so many instances you could have put a stop to this unfolding tragedy" but she allowed events to escalate.
"At every turn you made the wrong choice," he adds.
Addressing the pair's accomplices, Rekan Karwan and Raees Jamal, Judge Timothy Spencer KC says they knew more than they let on.
"You knew much more than you ever admitted to this jury about the real reasons for the Bukhari troubles," he says, adding they knew about the sexually explicit images and blackmail.
Looking back to January 2022, the judge says Ansreen Bukhari put matters into the hands of her daughter Mahek Bukhari.
"What a calamitous decision that was," he says.
He then cites two key WhatsApp messages from Mahek.
One of them says: "I'll soon get him jumped by guys and he won't know what day it is... I'll make sure he gets jumped, he won't know who did it and how."
The judge tells Ansreen Bukhari he believes she never owned up to the full extent of the affair.
"You fell for the advances of Saqib Hussain," he says, adding: "I'm quite sure at times you were passionately in love."
But it was an affair she came to regret, the judge continues, and the decision to end the affair led to the deaths of Hussain and Mohammed Hashim Ijazuddin.
"I acknowledge Saqib was blackmailing you and was immature and volatile," the judge says, "but had you adopted a mature approach to ending your affair," he would have come to terms with it.
He then quotes Hussain's mother's victim impact statement, in which she said "there is no laughter in my house" following her son's death.
Judge Timothy Spencer KC starts his remarks by citing the prosecution's description of the case as one of "love, obsession and extortion".
"In that they were right," he says.
"They were also right in categorising this case as one of cold-blooded murder.
"TikTok and Instagram lie at the heart of this case, you Mahek Bukhari being an influencer on both platforms.
"That's why you dropped out of university - had you not done so you would have been a graduate with your whole life in front of you."
Everyone is now back in court - the judge is due to begin his sentencing remarks now. Stick with us.
George Torr
Reporting from Leicester Crown Court
Image source, PA MediaMahek Bukhari (right) and her mother Ansreen Bukhari arrive at Leicester Crown Court during their trial
Mahek Bukhari had the air of confidence throughout her trial. She would share laughs and giggles with other defendants during quieter parts of proceedings.
She casually played Monopoly and Uno while she waited for the jury to come back with a verdict.
Mahek even waved and laughed at reporters from a court balcony while they stood outside with cameras, just two hours before she was convicted of double murder.
Earlier today she sat slumped, in tears, closing her eyes as Mohammed Hashim Ijazuddin's father and brothers delivered powerful and cutting victim impact statements.
Let's take the opportunity to look back at some key evidence. Here, BBC journalist George Torr takes us through the CCTV clips shown to the jury in this case.
Watch as the defendants follow the victims' car, before they casually walk around the streets of Leicester.
Mitigation has now ended and the court has just stopped for a break while the judge considers everything he's heard - he says they're aiming to be back for 15:50 BST.
He is then expected to pass sentence on the defendants. Stick with us.
Image source, Leicestershire ConstabularyFinally, we are hearing from Natasha Akhtar's defence barrister who notes she has been "ostracised" by her family and describes her as a "broken young woman".
The 23-year-old from Birmingham was cleared of murder, but convicted of manslaughter.
John Cooper KC tells the court: "She doesn't have a single person in the gallery. She has brought shame on her family.
"She is completely and utterly broken. She is, as far as her family are concerned, now alone".
He tells the judge Akhtar played a "minor role" in the tragedy.
"Natasha Akhtar's involvement began on the day. There is no evidence she was involved in any pre-planning."
The lawyer says her car was used, and she was used as a lookout at Tesco – "that's it".
Navtej Johal
Reporting from Leicester Crown Court
Sanaf Gulamustafa’s mother is crying while her son’s barrister talks about the impact of this incident on him.
Balraj Bhatia KC says he had to miss his father’s funeral because he was held in custody at the time.
He adds Gulamustafa played a “minor role” and was “not a leader”.
We're hearing now from Sanaf Gulamustafa's defence barrister, who argues his client had no knowledge of what was happening that night in the time leading up to the crash when he was in a Seat car.
Gulamustafa, 23, was cleared of murder, but he was convicted of manslaughter.
"I start with one word - that word is culpability," Balraj Bhatia KC says.
"He never knew the existence of the Bukhari family, or Saqib Hussain or Hashim Ijazuddin.
"He is in the Seat, he is not the driver, his foot is not on the accelerator, it is not his decision to chase the Skoda."
"Whichever way you look at it, he played a minor role," he says.
Navtej Johal
Reporting from Leicester Crown Court
The courtroom is packed with families of the victims and defendants, barristers and press after the lunch break.
The seven defendants in the dock have shown little reaction during the mitigation from their barristers this afternoon so far.
They are either staring straight ahead or looking down.
Image source, TikTokAnsreen Bukhari appeared occasionally in her daughter's TikTok videos, posted to Mahek Bukhari's more than 129,000 followers.
In one video, posted just a few months before the murder, the pair dance to a pop song together. Overlaid is the text: "Having an elite relationship with your mum".
In other videos, Mahek would post about fashion and makeup, lip-sync to popular songs and act out social scenarios.
Her account has not been active since February last year.
It's worth recapping the mitigation Christopher Millington KC gave earlier today on behalf of TikToker Mahek Bukhari, who he described as someone who had "many associates but very few friends".
"One person she could turn to was her mother - she in effect became her closest friend," he told the court.
"Her mother began to mix with her associates, one of those was Saqib Hussain with whom her mother began a longstanding affair."
Millington also touched on claims Hussain threatened to blackmail Bukhari's mother when she tried to break off the relationship.
Saqib Hussain and Mohammed Hashim Ijazuddin are the two victims in this case.
Both aged 21, they died instantly after their Skoda Fabia smashed into a tree before it caught fire, according to pathology evidence during the trial.
Image source, Family handoutHashim Ijazuddin (left) and Saqib Hussain were both 21 years old when they died
Image source, Leicestershire ConstabularyCaption: Clockwise from top left: Rekan Karwan and Raees Jamal, Ameer Jamal, Sanaf Gulamustafa and Natasha Akhtar
All in all, seven people were convicted of either murder or manslaughter over their role in the deaths of 21-year-olds Saqib Hussain and Mohammed Hashim Ijazuddin:
Co-accused Mohammed Patel was found not guilty of murder or manslaughter.
Sophie Evans, mitigating for Rekan Karwan who was convicted of murder, said he had been seeking to act as a mediator and added he had not been told the whole truth by TikTok influencer Mahek Bukhari.
She said the decision to ram the vehicle was taken spontaneously, rather than being pre-planned.
Karwan, aged 29, had moved from Iraq at the age of 11 and set up his own car garage, she said, adding he also worked a second job with Amazon to support his family, while living a law-abiding life before this offence with no previous convictions for violence.
The court hearing has resumed after breaking for lunch.
Barristers representing the defendants are now addressing the judge in turn as part of what's called mitigation.
A mitigating circumstance is something that may reduce your sentence, such as having problems in your personal life that have affected your behaviour.
Once mitigation has finished for each defendant, the judge will hand down the sentences.
Image source, BPM MediaA burned out Skoda, split in two across an barrier on the side of the A46
Let's recap a few of the details from the case. Married mother Ansreen Bukhari, 46, had been having an affair with Saqib Hussain, 21, but the relationship turned sour when she ended it.
The court heard Hussain, who was “begging her” to continue the relationship, had threatened to send sexually explicit material of her to her husband and son.
After being lured to meet Ansreen and her daughter Mahek Bukhari in a Tesco car park in Hamilton, Leicester, on the pretence he would be given back £3,000 he said he had spent during their affair, Hussain and friend Mohammed Hashim Ijazuddin were chased by two cars.
The men, driving in a Skoda, were pursued in the early hours of 11 February 2022. In a 999 call to police made by front-seat passenger Hussain moments before his death, he said their car was being "rammed off” the A46 dual carriageway by balaclava-wearing assailants in two pursuing cars.
In the call, played to the jury during the trial, a distressed Hussain could be heard saying: "They're trying to kill me, I'm going to die… please sir, I just need help.
"They're hitting the back of the car, really fast… please I'm begging you. I'm going to die."
A scream was heard on the line before the call abruptly ended.