TikTok murder trial: Driver 'did not ram car off road'

The prosecution claims the car carrying Hashim Ijazuddin and Saqib Hussain was rammed off the road

A driver accused of ramming a car off the road and causing the deaths of two men has said there was no contact moments before the crash.

Hashim Ijazuddin and Saqib Hussain, both 21, died on the A46 in Leicestershire in February 2022.

It is claimed a group in two cars rammed the pair off the road to keep secret an affair between Ansreen Bukhari and Mr Hussain.

Raees Jamal, one of the drivers, denies murder.

He and seven others - including Mrs Bukhari and her TikTok influencer daughter Mahek - deny two counts of murder and an alternative charge of manslaughter.

Leicester Crown Court has previously heard Mr Hussain, from Banbury, Oxfordshire, had been blackmailing Mrs Bukhari with sexual videos and images from their three-year affair.

The prosecution say the defendants enticed him and his friend Mr Ijazuddin to Leicester for a meeting under false pretences.

CCTV footage of the car park shows Mr Hussain and Mr Ijazuddin never got out of their Skoda Fabia, and the prosecution say this was because they became suspicious.

Instead, they left the car park, followed by a Seat Leon and Audi TT containing the defendants.

Ansreen Bukhari and her social media influencer daughter Mahek (right) are on trial

Giving evidence on Thursday, Mr Jamal, 23, who was driving the Seat Leon, said there was "light contact" along the A46.

He said he had "no intention" to harm the pair but continued the pursuit because he was "trying to stop [Mr Hussain]" and the blackmail.

Mr Jamal confirmed to his barrister Leonard Smith KC that he was told it was Mahek Bukhari that was being blackmailed by Mr Hussain, not her mother.

He added he did not tell co-accused Natasha Akhtar, his cousin Ameer Jamal and Sanaf Gulammustafa - who were passengers in the Seat Leon - about the blackmail.

Asked why he did not abandon the pursuit after the Skoda did not stop at the Tesco car park, he said: "I was just trying to stop him, slow him down.

"I wanted the blackmail to stop... so he wouldn't come back and threaten [Mahek]."

Mr Ijazuddin (left) and Mr Hussain died at the scene of the crash

On the contact that Mr Jamal said happened before the crash, he said: "I tried to overtake the Skoda... but the Skoda blocked me off... at that point the Skoda had come into contact with my car.

"It was a light contact."

Mr Smith asked his client: "Did you try and ram it off the road?"

"No," he said.

Mr Smith said: "Are you 100 per cent sure there was no further contact between the two cars before it came off the road?"

"100 per cent," Mr Jamal replied.

Front, from left: Ansreen Bukhari, Mahek Bukhari, Rekan Karwan, Raees Jamal with back, from 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

The trial continues.