Mahek Bukhari murder trial: TikTok star 'told pack of lies to police'

A TikTok influencer accused of murdering two men “told a pack of lies” to police over her involvement in the crash that killed them, a court heard.

Mohammed Hashim Ijazuddin and Saqib Hussain, both 21, died on the A46 near Leicester in February.

Mahek Bukhari, 23, her mother Ansreen Bukhari, 45, and six others are charged with their murder.

It is alleged the group rammed the pair off the road to keep an affair between Ansreen and Mr Hussain secret.

On the first day of the trial at Leicester Crown Court, the jury was told Mr Hussain 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 told the mother and daughter plotted with six others to set up Mr Hussain by getting him to meet them in a Leicester car park under false pretences.

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

On day two, the jury was played extracts from a police interview with TikTok star Mahek Bukhari following her arrest hours after the crash.

The court heard after the fatal crash at 01:35 GMT on 11 February, police worked with other forces to trace the Audi TT and Seat Leon the prosecution says were involved.

The Audi TT led officers to the Bukhari home in Stoke-in-Trent and officers visited later that morning.

Prosecutor Collingwood Thompson KC said while her brother was being asked about the car, Mahek Bukhari had a 14-minute call with co-defendant Raess Jamal.

“It seems pretty clear what happened was a concocted story was put together in order to deceive the police,” Mr Thompson said.

Mr Thompson said a Snapchat message sent to Ansreen Bukhari by her daughter read: “Risky…if anyone else was in the car…he said just say you and Mum.”

The prosecution alleges the person referred to was Mr Jamal.

Once it was established the women had been in the Audi TT, Mahek Bukhari claimed to officers she and her mother had been to Nottingham.

“That was a lie, they had not been to Nottingham at all,” Mr Thompson said.

The women were asked to hand over their phones and pin numbers.

However, Mahek Bukhari gave a false pin number and when officers tried to unlock it, her phone had reverted back to its factory settings with the data cleared.

Detectives would later retrieve messages and call logs from her phone after accessing her iCloud account, the court heard.

Both were arrested and transferred to Leicester to be interviewed under police caution.

Mr Thompson said: “Far from telling the truth, she told [the police] a pack of lies.

“No doubt, as a social [media] influencer, those skills would enable her to tell a false story to the police.”

The barrister said Mahek Bukhari told police they had been intending to travel to Nottingham but ended up in Leicester due to roadworks.

When asked about Mr Hussain, the influencer said she had known him for three years and had his number as they had previously dated.

She claimed he had been harassing and bullying her through her social media channels and demanded money to stop.

She said this was why they came to meet him at a Tesco car park in Hamilton, Leicester.

“Of course, that was a complete lie. He’d been lured to Leicester by arrangements made by Mahek and Ansreen Bukhari,” Mr Thompson said.

“From then onwards, the lies the Crown allege, simply get worse and worse.”

Mr Thompson said Mahek Bukhari told officers she saw the Skoda Fabia with Mr Hussain and his friend inside “swerve” on the A46 before crashing into the central barrier.

She said she was “hoping and praying” the people inside were OK and “burst into tears, when she learned they had died, he told jurors.

The eight defendants are:

The trial continues.

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