Who is Mahek Bukhari? TikTok influencer and mother sentenced for killing two men in high-speed car chase

The up-and-down life of a social media influencer seems often publicised, but very rarely to the extent that sees one guilty of double murder. That is the case for TikTok's Mahek Bukhari, who, along with her mother, is to be sentenced today.

Both were found guilty at Leicester Crown Court after a three-month trial over the deaths of Saqib Hussain and Mohammed Hashim Ijazuddin. The friends died in a car crash near Leicester's A46 dual carriageway in February 2022, an incident which prosecutors found that the mother and daughter duo had deliberately rammed them off the road.

Jurors had deliberated for more than 28 hours before coming to a verdict last month. Mahek Bukhari, 24, and Ansreen Bukhari, 46, were found guilty of two counts of murder.

Fellow defendants Rekhan Karwan, 29, and Raees Jamal, 23, were also found guilty of murder. While Natasha Akhtar, 23, Ameer Jamal, 28, and Sanaf Gulamustafa, 23, were not, but the judge did rule them guilty of manslaughter. Another defendant, Mohammed Patel, was found not guilty of murder or manslaughter.

The victims of the tragedy, who were both 21-years-old and from Banbury in Oxfordshire, had been inside a Skoda and were chased by an Audi and a Seat which contained the eight defendants. It was said that Mr Hussain had threatened to use sexually explicit material to expose a long-running affair he had with Mahek's mother Ansreen.

Just as the Tiktok star is set to be sentenced, who is she? Here is everything you need to know about Mahek Bukhari.

Who is Mahek Bukhari and how many followers did she have?

Social media influencer Mahek Bukhari - known by many as Maya - had 126,000 followers on TikTok and 43,000 on Instagram before her arrest. She built her following through posting a lot of videos and pictures relating to fashion, such as clothing, handbags and make-up.

The 24-year-old from Stoke-on-Trent in Staffordshire would often appear in her TikToks with her mother Ansreen Bukhari. One video was captioned "Having an elite relationship with your mum. So blessed to have her in my life, my mother, best friend and sister all in one."