TikTok murder trial: Victims' families speak of 'devastation'

Hashim Ijazuddin (left) and Saqib Hussain, both from Banbury, died at the scene

The families of two young men murdered in a high-speed car chase have told a court their lives have been torn apart by their deaths.

Saqib Hussain and Hashim Ijazuddin, both 21, were killed in a crash on the A46 in Leicestershire in February 2022.

TikTok influencer Mahek Bukhari, 24, and her mother Ansreen Bukhari, 46, were convicted last month of murder.

Families of the victims have been addressing Leicester Crown Court ahead of the pair's sentencing later.

Their trial previously heard Mr Hussain had threatened to reveal he was having an affair with Mrs Bukhari, and she and her daughter devised a plan to silence him.

The pair, both from Stoke-on-Trent, "lured" Mr Hussain, from Banbury, Oxfordshire, to a meeting in a Tesco car park in Leicester, saying he would be given back £3,000 he said he had spent on taking his lover out during their relationship.

The Bukharis had planned to take Mr Hussain's mobile phone from him, believing it contained explicit images of Ansreen Bukhari.

However Mr Hussain, and his friend Mr Ijazuddin, who accompanied him, were then ambushed by a masked gang, recruited by the Bukharis, and chased by two cars, later crashing into a tree in a ball of flames.

Also due to be sentenced for murder are fellow defendants Rekan Karwan, 29, from Leicester, and Raees Jamal, 23, from Loughborough, who were recruited by the Bukharis and driving the pursuing cars.

Mahek Bukhari (left) and her mother Ansreen wanted to silence Saqib Hussain, who had threatened to reveal an affair he was having with the older woman, the trial heard

Natasha Akhtar, 23, from Birmingham; Ameer Jamal, 28, and Sanaf Gulamustafa, 23, both from Leicester, were cleared of murder but convicted of manslaughter.

In statements read to the court, the parents of Mr Hussain and Mr Ijazuddin said their lives had been changed forever by their deaths.

Mr Ijazuddin's father, Sikandar Hayat, said: "My heart has been ripped out and none of us will be the same again. None of us will truly smile again.

"All we have left is memories of our beloved son."

He said his son, who accompanied his friend Mr Hussain to the rendezvous that ultimately led to their deaths, had been "innocent".

He said he could not understand why the defendants had not called the emergency services to get help after the crash.

"They left him and his friend to burn in a furnace of hell," he said.

In the courtroom

By George Torr, BBC News

Mahek Bukhari had an 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 the card game Uno while she waited for the jury to come back with a verdict.

She even waved and laughed at reporters from a court balcony while they were standing outside with cameras, just two hours before she was convicted of double murder.

But she was sitting slumped in the dock, in tears, closing her eyes as Hashim Ijazuddin's father and brothers delivered powerful and cutting victim impact statements.

Her mother Ansreen, meanwhile, was sitting with a vacant expression on her face.

Addressing the Bukharis in the dock, he asked them: "Was it worth it?"

He said they had ruined their own lives as well as those of the victim's families.

In a statement read on their behalf, Mr Hussain's family said his parents had been left as "two lifeless corpses", unable to eat or drink in the run-up to their son's funeral.

Mr Ijazuddin's brother Zaheer described the Bukharis as "murdering monsters".

Both families said they were haunted by the fear the victims must have felt in their final moments.

The trial heard a 999 call made by Mr Hussain from the passenger seat of his car as it was chased along the A46 towards Six Hills in Leicestershire.

He told police: "There's guys following me, they have balaclavas on… they're trying to ram me off the road."

A scream was heard on the line before the call abruptly ended.

Clockwise from top left: Rekan Karwan and Raees Jamal, who were found guilty of murder; Ameer Jamal, Sanaf Gulamustafa and Natasha Akhtar, who were convicted of manslaughter

The court heard mitigation from Ansreen Bukhari's barrister Philip Upward, who said she had been under pressure from Mr Hussain for months, and he had threatened to release pictures and video of her.

He said she had not intended for her lover and his friend to be killed.

Nor had she been armed or disguised, he said, when she went to meet Mr Hussain in Leicester.

"She will accept she was weak, as a mature woman, in responding to his advances," he said.

"She will spend the rest of her life living in the shadow of her shame."

The court heard, in mitigation for Mahek Bukhari, that she was "immature" and acted to protect her mother, her "closest friend".

Her barrister Christopher Millington said Mr Hussain had been engaged in "serious criminal behaviour" towards Ansreen Bukhari.

'Make up numbers'

The hearing was told Mahek had not planned to kill either man.

Mr Millington added: "Intentions were formed on the spur of the moment on the A46."

Barristers for Rekan Karwan and Raees Jamal also said neither had planned to kill the victims but intended to scare Mr Hussain at the meeting.

Rajiv Menon, in mitigation, said Ameer Jamal had played a "minor role" in events leading up to the fatal crash.

He had been there to "make up the numbers" if there was a need to take Mr Hussain's phone at the car park meeting, he said.

He had been a passenger in the Seat car driven by his cousin Raees Jamal, who he had been encouraging to "chill out".

Balraj Bhatia, for Gulamustafa, said Raees Jamal asked his client to join him in Leicester only shortly before the night in question.

He said: "Sanaf Gulamustafa is not a leader or a decision-maker. He does not take the initiative - he is a follower."

Mr Bhatia said Gulamustafa's father died on the night of the crash and he had been unable to attend the funeral as he was in custody.

John Cooper, representing Akhtar, who was Raees Jamal's girlfriend, said his client had played a minor role, as a look-out at the car park meeting.

He said she had become involved in the events only on the day and was "besotted" with Jamal, who wanted her car for the trip to Leicester.

He said she was now a "completely broken" young woman facing a prison term and had expressed remorse and sadness at the loss of life.