A TikTok personality, previously imprisoned along with her mother for a severe double murder, recently had her sentence reduced after judges deemed it “manifestly excessive.”
Mahek Bukhari, who was popular on social media due to her lavish lifestyle, amassing over 190,000 followers on TikTok, initially received a life sentence with a minimum of 31 years in September 2023.
She and her mother, Ansreen Bukhari, were found guilty of killing two men after one of the men threatened to release a sex tape revealing his affair with Ansreen.
The victims, Saqib Hussain and Mohammed Hashim Ijazuddin, both aged 21, died in a tragic crash near Leicester, a city in central England, in February 2022.
According to prosecutors, the victims were ‘lured’ to meet Mahek and her mother, who intended to silence Hussain after he claimed to have spent thousands of pounds during his three-year affair with Ansreen.
Instead of resolving the issue with money, Mahek, Ansreen, and six others ambushed the men in two cars, an Audi TT and a Seat Leon, aiming to seize the phone and delete evidence of the affair.
The situation escalated, resulting in a high-speed chase with both cars pursuing the victims at alarming speeds.
Just before his death, Hussain called 999 in desperation, telling police: “We’re being rammed off the road by guys in balaclavas… Please, I’m begging you, I’m going to die.”
His last words—’Oh my God’—were heard before the crash cut off the call. Investigators later stated that the Audi was traveling at speeds of up to 100mph when it collided with the victims’ Skoda, splitting it in half.
During a hearing on October 24, the Court of Appeal reduced Mahek’s minimum term to 26 years and 285 days, following her legal team’s argument that the original sentence was ‘wholly disproportionate’.
Lord Justice Warby noted the sentencing judge had not made ‘enough allowance’ for Mahek’s age, as she was only 22 and still ‘immature’ at the time.
Christopher Millington KC, representing Mahek, contended earlier this month that her youth and the emotional strain from Hussain’s threats should have been considered in her sentencing.
While the Crown Prosecution Service acknowledged Hussain’s blackmail ‘undoubtedly existed’, they maintained the sentence was appropriate; however, the appeal judges concluded that Mahek’s age should have ‘exerted a substantial downward pressure’ on her term.
Her mother’s life sentence remains the same, with a minimum of 26 years. Several other defendants, including 29-year-old Rekhan Karwan and 23-year-old Raees Jamal, were also jailed for murder with sentences of 26 years and 31 years, respectively.