A TikTok influencer “set a trap” on a man who was blackmailing her mum with a sex tape, a jury hears.
Image source, Leicestershire PoliceA TikTok influencer “set a trap” that led to a man who was blackmailing her mother with a sex tape being rammed off the road and killed, a court has heard.
Mohammed Hashim Ijazuddin and Saqib Hussain, both 21 and from Oxfordshire, died in the crash on the A46 near Leicester on 11 February.
Mahek Bukhari, 23, her mother Ansreen, 45, and six others are charged with murder.
Their trial got under way at Leicester Crown Court on Thursday.
The court heard Mr Hussain and Ansreen Bukhari, of George Eardley Close, Stoke-on-Trent, began an affair in 2019 but she ended it in January 2022.
Collingwood Thompson KC, for the prosecution, said Mr Hussain had in his possession sexual videos and images of Ansreen Buhkari and made repeated attempts to contact her after she broke it off.
Image source, Photo supplied
The court heard Mr Hussain was becoming “increasingly obsessive” and was “professing his love for her” but showed “anger and frustration”.
The barrister said: “That anger manifested itself in an attempt to blackmail Ansreen Bukhari in order to persuade her to contact him.
“What he did was to threaten to send the sexually explicit material that existed on his Instagram to her husband, [and] to her son unless she agreed to speak to him.”
The court heard her daughter – who was aware of the affair – was told of the blackmail plot and, fearful of the impact on her family, as well as her social media following, sent her mother a WhatsApp message saying: “I’ll soon get him jumped by guys and he won’t know what day it is.”
The jury was told Mr Hussain was demanding up to £3,000 he had spent on dates with Ansreen Bukhari during their affair and a meeting was arranged in Leicester to hand it over.
But rather than handing over the money, the mother and daughter were plotting to seize Mr Hussain’s phone containing the explicit material.
The Bukharis made arrangements with several others to travel with them in two cars to “teach Mr Hussain a harsh lesson”.
Their co-defendants are:
- Mohammed Patel, 20, of Braybrooke Road, Leicester
- Natasha Akhtar, 21, of Alum Rock Road, Birmingham
- Raees Jamal, 21, of Lingdale Close, Loughborough
- Rekan Karwan, 28, of Tomlin Road, Leicester
- Sanaf Gulammustafa, 22, of Littlemore Close, Leicester
- Ameer Jamal, 27, of Catherine Street, Leicester
The jury was told Mr Ijazuddin agreed to take Mr Hussain from their home in Banbury to the meeting in a Tesco car park in Hamilton, Leicester, on 10 February.
The court heard an Audi TT and a Seat Leon with the defendants inside pulled up.
But Mr Thompson said it soon became apparent this “wasn’t a normal meeting” and Mr Hussain and Mr Ijazuddin drove away in their Skoda Fabia.
The Audi TT – a replacement car issued to Mahek Bukhari – had a tracking device and recorded speeds up to 100mph in the subsequent chase, the jury was told.
‘I’m going to die’
The court was played a distressed 999 call made by Mr Hussein as he travelled in the passenger seat.
In the call, Mr Hussain said: “There’s guys following me, they have balaclavas on… they’re trying to ram me off the road.
“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 it abruptly ended.
Footage from police attending the crash scene at about 01:30 GMT showed the Skoda Fabia in flames against a tree in the central reservation of the A46 dual carriageway, close to the Six Hills junction near Leicester.
Police and firefighters discovered the remains of two bodies after extinguishing the roadside blaze. Both had to be identified through dental records, the court heard.
Mr Thompson said: “Using the bait of returning the money and the prospect of meeting Ansreen Bukhari, they set a trap for Saqib Hussain.
“It would seem one objective was to seize Saqib’s iPhone which had the videos and pictures.
“But this would still leave Saqib to tell Ansreen’s husband about the affair. The Crown say the plan had to have gone beyond seizing the iPhone.
“A way had to be found of silencing him of doing that… either to teach him a harsh lesson or to silence him forever by killing him.”
The court was told that the driver Mr Ijazuddin was “completely innocent” and just “doing a favour for a mate.”
“This tragically turned out to be a fatal mistake,” Mr Thompson said. “It was a mistake that cost an innocent man his life.”
The eight defendants are each charged with two counts of murder, which they deny.
The trial continues.
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