"she felt utterly betrayed and took her revenge"
A barrister who made false rape claims against her married lover has had her life sentence overturned on appeal.
Anisah Ahmed, aged 33, of Oxford, staged her own kidnapping and stabbing as part of a campaign to ruin lawyer Iqbal Mohammed’s life, after finding out he was married.
She became the first person to receive a life sentence for perverting the course of justice.
However, her sentence was overturned by a panel of three judges, who changed her prison term to 10 years.
The plot began in 2014 and it saw Ahmed send intimate messages of her lover’s affair to his wife and co-workers, before emailing his Head of Chambers demanding an investigation into his integrity.
Ahmed’s actions became more extreme when she created fake emails to support her false claims which made it look like they were sent by Mr Mohammed threatening her, amounting to “blackmail”.
But after the emails were found to be bogus, she then accused Mr Mohammed of raping her on several occasions, providing detailed and convincing accounts to investigators.
In a final attempt to frame Mr Mohammed, Ahmed staged her own kidnap and stabbing.
She had roped in an ex-boyfriend as an accomplice. He later told police that she had ordered him to stab her three times.
When he refused, fearing he might accidentally kill her, Ahmed is believed to have stabbed herself, almost severing her femoral artery.
She told police Mr Mohammed had ordered the attack on her, later producing a forged confession from an imaginary hitman.
But her plot was foiled and Ahmed was convicted for perverting the course of justice and was sentenced to life in prison.
Judge Michael Gledhill previously said:
“It appears that Ahmed had no idea that Mohammed was married.
“When she found out, she felt utterly betrayed and took her revenge by putting into effect a comprehensive and orchestrated plan to destroy him – both professionally and personally.”
Mr Mohammed had been publicly arrested at his barrister chambers before he was taken to a police station.
After his chambers instructed IT experts to search the chambers’ computers, they found that the email address had been falsified and police arrested Ahmed for harassment.
She later admitted that she had created the fake emails, but continued to claim that her ex-lover was still harassing her.
When Ahmed was prosecuted, the barrister decided to escalate her campaign of harassment.
Judge Gledhill QC added: “As a barrister, Ahmed was well aware of the gravity of what she had done and the potential consequences to herself.
“In order to avoid such consequences, her strategy then took an even more sinister turn.”
“She made another attempt to frame Mr Mohammed for a serious criminal offence.
“She reported that he had raped her on several occasions. Her complaint was detailed and convincing, even though it was completely false.
“Her purpose was twofold – revenge and to divert the police attention away from herself and back onto Mr Mohammed. In the short term it worked. Mr Mohammed was again arrested and interviewed.
“The effect on Mr Mohammed can hardly be overstated.
“He saw his career, livelihood and family life disintegrating before his eyes, he even thought of taking his own life.”
But, three Court of Appeal judges have now overturned the life sentence. Instead, they imposed a 10-year term and a lifelong restraining order.
Lord Justice Edis urged Ahmed to continue her good work in prison and seek help with her mental health upon her release.
He said: “The stakes are very high for you.
“They are not as high as they were because you are no longer subject to a life sentence but they are high.
“If you commit further offences or breach any of those orders you will go to prison for a long time. Whether that happens or not is up to you.”
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