"she chose to act outside of those to plot revenge"
A West Yorkshire barrister has been jailed for three years and three months for plotting a revenge attack with her “career criminal” client after he was shot.
Samreen Akhtar was convicted of encouraging or assisting the commission of an indictable offence, namely inflicting grievous bodily harm with intent.
The 38-year-old had represented Tabish Ali after he was shot and injured on Blacker Road in Huddersfield on September 14, 2021.
The following day, Akhtar was recorded during a telephone conversation with Ali putting forward a plan to find the person responsible for the shooting so they could be seriously injured, according to West Yorkshire Police.
Akhtar, of Sufton Street, Huddersfield, denied the charge but was convicted by a majority jury verdict following a five-day trial in June.
She was sentenced at Manchester Crown Court on September 7.
The case revealed how a barrister working within the criminal justice system became involved in a violent feud linked to rival drugs gangs in Huddersfield.
Detective Inspector Paul Hutchinson said: “As a professional working in the criminal justice system, Samreen Akhtar would have been acutely aware of her legal and moral responsibilities.
“But she chose to act outside of those to plot revenge with a dangerous criminal involved in a violent gang feud which included the brutal execution of a rival for which he was later convicted.
“In doing so, she became a criminal herself and showed a complete disregard for the standards that are expected of those in the legal profession.”
Inside the Revenge Plot
The shooting that triggered Akhtar’s involvement was believed by police to have been connected to an escalating feud between drugs gangs.
Ali was already known to police as a member of a drugs gang when he was shot in September 2021.
He was later charged with the murder of Jamal Nedd, who was shot and killed outside his Huddersfield home on December 19, 2020.
Nedd was driving his mother to work when he was killed.
Ali was charged with his murder in 2021 and was subsequently convicted alongside two other men in July 2022. All three received life sentences.
The trial heard that Nedd’s murder was part of an escalating “turf war” between drug dealing gangs, which had involved multiple violent firearms incidents.
Police believed the shooting of Ali in September 2021 was also connected to the same ongoing feud.
It was against this backdrop that Akhtar, who had represented Ali, was recorded discussing a potential retaliatory attack with him the day after he was shot.
Her conduct ultimately led to her own prosecution and conviction.
Akhtar was arrested by detectives in February 2022 and charged the following year.
Her conviction means the case has drawn attention not only to the violence surrounding the Huddersfield drugs feud, but also to the consequences for a legal professional who became involved in a planned act of serious violence.
The sentence handed down at Manchester Crown Court brings the criminal proceedings against Akhtar to a conclusion, with the court finding her guilty despite her denial of the charge.
