Mother of TikTok Killer Loses Sentence Appeal
A panel of three judges took less than a day to decide Ansreen Bukhari would spend the same amount of time in prison as before she asked them to reconsider.
Bukhari, 49, was jailed for 26 years and nine months for the murder of Saqib Hussain and Hashim Ijazuddin, who died after being chased down and struck on the A46 in February 2022. Her lawyers argued on Friday that the sentencing judge had failed to properly weigh the coercive and controlling behaviour she suffered at the hands of Hussain in the weeks before the crash.
What the Appeal Argued
James Millington KC told the Court of Appeal that the original judge, Timothy Spencer KC, "set the bar too high" when handing down Bukhari's sentence. He described a pattern of blackmail and abusive messages from Hussain toward Bukhari that escalated in the days before the fatal chase, arguing that this pressure campaign should have counted as mitigation.
📰 Read Also: Court Told Judge Was Wrong to Spare Boys Custody in Rape Case
Coercive control has been treated as a form of domestic abuse under the Victims and Prisoners Act 2024, giving the argument fresh legal weight it would not have carried at the original 2023 trial. Bukhari's team also pointed to a separate police report of similar behaviour from an unrelated woman as evidence of a broader pattern.
Why the Judges Disagreed
Lord Justice Jeremy Baker, sitting with two other judges, said the panel was satisfied the original sentence had properly accounted for the mitigating circumstances raised. He described Bukhari as a "central figure" in the plot who had "many opportunities" to stop events from escalating before the fatal collision on the A46.
📰 Read Also: Domestic Killers Face Longer Jail Terms
That framing draws a sharp contrast with the outcome for Bukhari's daughter. Mahek Bukhari, who was 22 at the time of the killings and had posted to nearly 129,000 TikTok followers, had her own minimum term cut from almost 32 years to 27 last October after a separate appeal judge ruled her "youth and acknowledged immaturity" had been given too little weight. No equivalent argument applied to her mother, who was 45 when the murders took place.
The Wider Case
Hussain and Ijazuddin, both from Banbury, were "lured" to a Tesco car park in Hamilton, Leicester, under the pretence that Hussain would be repaid £3,000. Instead, the pair were chased and their car split apart and caught fire at the Six Hills junction. Two other men were also convicted of murder at the original trial, while three further defendants were convicted of manslaughter and one was acquitted entirely.
📰 Read Also: Man Convicted of Murder After Holding Friend Captive
With her own appeal now exhausted, Bukhari's minimum term stands unchanged — the same 26 years and nine months a court first handed her in 2023, now confirmed as final.
TL;DR
- Ansreen Bukhari's appeal to cut her 26-year, nine-month murder sentence was rejected by three Court of Appeal judges.
- Her lawyers argued coercive control from victim Saqib Hussain should have reduced her sentence.
- Judges ruled Bukhari was a "central figure" who had chances to stop the escalation.
- Her daughter Mahek had a separate appeal succeed last year on grounds of youth and immaturity.
- Hussain and Hashim Ijazuddin died after being chased on the A46 in February 2022.
Read More
You might also like
Politics & World News Editor
James Mitchell has covered US and UK politics for over a decade, with a focus on elections, foreign policy, and Capitol Hill. He breaks down complex political stories into clear, fast analysis.
