TikTok influencer Mahek Bukhari and five co-defendants, including her mother, have been released from prison ahead of murder retrial next year.
Bukhari, 23, her mother Ansreen Bukhari, 46, Mohammed Patel, 20, Natasha Akhtar, 22, Sanaf Gulammustafa, 22, and Ameer Jamal, 27, were released on Wednesday (14) as their barristers appeared before the trial judge at Leicester Crown Court.
They were accused of murdering Saqib Hussain and Mohammed Hashim Ijazuddin, both 21, from Banbury, Oxfordshire. The two men died in a crash when their vehicle left the A46 in Leicestershire in February.
The eight accused are facing murder charge as well as manslaughter charge in connection with the killings, but they have all denied the accusations.
According to reports, Justice Saini discharged the entire jury in early this month due to internal 'irregularities'. Further details on what happened with the jury are unavailable as a court order banned its reporting.
Following their arrests in February and March, the defendants have all been behind bars. The trial in the case was delayed and only got underway in October.
With no fresh trial date or venue yet determined, the eight defendants had been forced to wait for several months for the trial to reopen. The six are anticipated to remain free on bail until the hearing starts.
The other defendants, Rekan Karwan, 28, and Raees Jamal, 22, were not involved in the bail proceedings on Wednesday, reports added.
During the trial, it was revealed that the TikTok star hatched a plot to kill her mother's secret lover after he blackmailed the latter with a sex tape. Bukhari hired men to 'silence' Hussain who had an affair with her mother Ansreen, fearing that it will ruin her family and her social media career.
According to reports, Hussain and Ansreen began an affair in 2019 but she ended the relationship in January this year.
FILE PHOTO: Floral tributes are laid following a vigil for the victims of the knife attack in Southport, Britain July 30, 2024. REUTERS/Temilade Adelaja
