Murder-accused mum of TikTok influencer denies plot to harm lover

Ansreen Bukhari told Leicester Crown Court she wanted to "end on good terms" with Saqib Hussain

A married mother accused of killing her young lover who was blackmailing her with sexual images told a court she "never" wanted him dead.

Ansreen Bukhari, 46, and seven others deny murdering Saqib Hussain and his friend Mohammed Hashim Ijazuddin.

The men were rammed off the A46 in Leicestershire on 11 February 2022 to keep an affair between Mrs Bukhari and Mr Hussain a secret, prosecutors say.

Giving evidence, Mrs Bukhari said she wanted to "end on good terms" with him.

The jury at Leicester Crown Court has previously been told Mr Hussain, from Banbury, Oxfordshire, had been threatening to send explicit videos and images of his lover to her husband after she broke off their three-year affair.

The court was also told Mrs Bukhari and her TikTok influencer daughter Mahek Bukhari, 24, plotted with six others to set up Mr Hussain by getting him to meet them in a Leicester Tesco car park under false pretences.

Mrs Bukhari's social media influencer daughter, Mahek Bukhari (right), is also on trial accused of murder

Taking the stand on Tuesday, Mrs Bukhari said she was "too scared" to go to the police over Mr Hussain's threats to expose the affair to her son and husband.

She told her barrister Patrick Upward KC she met Mr Hussain through the social media app Azar.

She said she was "flattered" by the interest he showed in her and they met for the first time in a supermarket car park in London.

Mrs Bukhari said she later began a sexual relationship with Mr Hussain, who would buy her clothes and send her takeaways through UberEats.

Mohammed Hashim Ijazuddin (left) and Mr Hussain died at the scene

Mr Upward KC asked about numerous calls and texts Mr Hussain had sent Mrs Bukhari after she had broken off the relationship in the weeks before his death.

"I was scared... quite a few times he said 'I'm going to send pictures and videos to your husband... you've got a family, I've got nothing to lose'," she told the court.

Mrs Bukhari told the jury she eventually confided in her daughter about the affair and subsequent threats.

"She was very angry, she said 'I can't believe what you've just told me'.

"She was really annoyed, really angry," Mrs Bukhari said.

'Just the talk'

The court was told Mahek had sent her mother a message, in which she said she would "make sure he [Saqib Hussain] gets jumped" on 4 January 2022.

Asked by Mr Upward KC why she said that, Mrs Bukhari said: "[Mahek] always exaggerates.

"She says things but she doesn't act on it, it's just the talk."

"Did you want her to get in any enterprise in which Saqib 'got jumped?'," Mr Upward KC asked.

Mrs Bukhari replied: "No."

Mr Upward asked: "Did you want him dead?"

"Never," she said.

(From front left) Ansreen Bukhari, Mahek Bukari, Rekan Karwan, Raees Jamal with (from top left) Ameer Jamal, Sanaf Gulammustafa, Natasha Akhtar and Mohammed Patel

The defendants are:

Ansreen Bukhari, 46, of George Eardley Close, Stoke-on-Trent

Mahek Bukhari, 24, of George Eardley Close, Stoke-on-Trent

Rekan Karwan, 29, of Tomlin Road, Leicester

Raees Jamal, 23, of Lingdale Close, Loughborough

Mohammed Patel, 21, of Braybrooke Road, Leicester

Natasha Akhtar, 23, of Alum Rock Road, Birmingham

Sanaf Gulammustafa, 23, of Littlemore Close, Leicester

Ameer Jamal, 28, of Catherine Street, Leicester

All eight defendants deny two counts of murder and alternative charges of two counts of manslaughter.

The trial continues.