DRIVER IN TRIAL OF TIKTOK INFLUENCER ACCUSED OF LYING
22-year-old challenged over statement
JURORS in a murder trial involving a Stoke-on-trent social media influencer and her mum have heard more from the driver of the car accused of ramming the crash victims off the road.
Raees Jamal – who has repeatedly denied causing the collision – told the court how he blamed himself for the ‘accident’ because of the way he was driving to stop the Skoda carrying Saqib Hussain and Mohammed Hashim Ijazuddin.
Eight defendants – including Tunstall mum and daughter Ansreen Bukhari and Mahek Bukhari, pictured – stand accused of killing Mr Hussain and Mr Hashim Ijazuddin, whose car burst into flames after crashing on the A46 near Leicester.
Jamal, aged 22, has admitted he wanted to stop the Skoda so he could obtain explicit pictures from Mr Hussain’s phone that were being used for blackmail.
But he has consistently denied the Seat Leon had any contact with the Skoda directly before the collision that caused the two men to die.
As part of his latest evidence, Jamal was challenged over his defence case statement - a signed document his lawyers put together long before the trial, outlining his case against the charges of murder and manslaughter.
His statement said that ‘immediately prior to the accident the defendant was overtaking the Skoda to get the Skoda to stop. The Skoda was driving erratically and moved to block the Seat and as a result of the manoeuvre, the Skoda came into contact with the Seat and lost control, which led to the tragic accident.’
But Jamal said again that the only contact between the two cars was well before the crash.
Prosecutor Collingwood Thompson KC accused him of lying to the jury and said: “What you’re saying [in the statement] is the contact between your car and the Skoda Fabia caused the Skoda to lose control.
“It says the loss of control resulted from the car coming into contact with the front of the Seat.”
Jamal said he apologised for the statement not giving the correct impression of what happened and failing to mention the time between the contact and the fatal crash. He said: “It’s kept brief and I should have mentioned that, I’m sorry.”
He was also asked about another issue in his defence case statement where Jamal, who lives in Loughborough, said he had gone to Leicester ‘to assist a friend who had been blackmailed’.
However, he has told the jury that he only found out about Mahek’s issues with Mr Hussain after he got to Leicester and that she told him in person outside the home of his codefendant Rekan Karwan.
As he has previously told the jury, Raees had been led by Mahek to believe that the blackmail involved naked pictures and videos of her.
They were actually of her mother, Ansreen, who had been in a three-year relationship with Mr Hussain.
Jamal said that despite what his statement said, he had originally gone to Leicester to socialise with friends. He said: “When I did my defence case statement I was so traumatised by everything - I didn’t know what to think.”
Jamal admitted he was at Tesco to provide ‘back up’ for Mahek but he said the others in his car - Natasha Akhtar, Sanaf Gulammustafa and his cousin, Ammeer Jamal, were not involved in helping Mahek and that no one was wearing balaclavas. Jamal also said he gave his co-defendant Mohammed Patel a wheel brace from the back of Mahek’s Audi TT because Patel had asked him for it.
The defendants all deny murder and an alternative count of manslaughter. Those on trial are: Natasha Akhtar, (22), of Alum Rock Road, Birmingham; Mahek Bukhari, (23), and Ansreen Bukhari, (47), both of George Eardley Close, Tunstall; Raees Jamal, (22), of Lingdale Close, Loughborough; Rekan Karwan, (28), of Tomlin Road, Leicester; Mohammed Patel, (20), of Braybrooke Road, Leicester; Sanaf Gulammustafa, (22), of Littlemore Close, Leicester, and Ammeer Jamal, (27), of Catherine Street, Leicester.
The trial continues.