Ansreen Bukhari has had her appeal against her murder sentence rejected. Bukhari was found guilty of murder in August 2023, along with seven other individuals, for her role in the deaths of Saqib Hussain and Hashim Ijazuddin in February 2022.
The court heard that Mahek Bukhari, Ansreen's daughter and a TikTok influencer with nearly 129,000 followers, had orchestrated a plan to confront Hussain. The confrontation was allegedly prompted by Hussain's threat to expose a long-running affair with Ansreen using sexually explicit material.
On the night of the murders, February 11, 2022, Hussain was in a car with Ijazuddin. The court was told that Mahek Bukhari "set a trap" for Hussain. During the incident, Ijazuddin's car reportedly split in two and caught fire after colliding with a tree at the Six Hills junction on the A46.
Following the trial, Rekhan Karwan and Raees Jamal were also convicted of murder. Natasha Akhtar, Ameer Jamal, and Sanaf Gulamustafa were cleared of murder but found guilty of manslaughter. Mohammed Patel was acquitted of both murder and manslaughter charges.
In October of the previous year, Mahek Bukhari, who was 22 at the time of the double murder, had her minimum life sentence reduced from nearly 32 years to 27 years. This reduction came after an appeal judge determined that the original sentencing had not sufficiently considered her age and immaturity. The High Court ruled that her "youth and her acknowledged immaturity were given far too little weight" and should have influenced the minimum term more significantly.