Leeds barrister jailed after plotting revenge attack in gang feud

A Leeds barrister who plotted a revenge attack with a career criminal client has been jailed.

Samreen Akhtar was sentenced to three years and three months in prison at Manchester Crown Court today (September 7) after she was found guilty of encouraging or assisting the commission of an indictable offence.

The 38-year-old worked as a barrister at the time of the offence and has worked at Leeds Crown Court.

After Akhtar’s client Tabish Ali had been shot and injured in Huddersfield on September 14, 2021, the barrister was recorded plotting a revenge attack on a phone call the next day.

On the phone with Ali, Akhtar put forward a plan to find the person responsible for the shooting so they could be caused serious injuries.

Ali was subsequently charged in October 2021 with the murder of Jamal Nedd, who had been shot and fatally wounded outside his home in Ripon Avenue, Huddersfield, on December 19, 2020, as he drove his mother to work.

Ali, then of Clare Road, Cleckheaton, was convicted of his murder and given a life sentence along with two other men in July 2022.

Their trial had been told that the murder came as part of an escalating ‘turf war’ between drug dealing gangs, which had involved multiple violent and firearms incidents since 2018.

The attempted murder shooting of Ali in 2021 was believed to have been linked to this ongoing feud.

Akhtar was arrested by detectives in February 2022 and charged in March the following year with encouraging or assisting the commission of an indictable offence, namely inflicting grievous bodily harm with intent, under the Serious Crime Act 2007.

Though Akhtar denied the offence, she was convicted by a majority jury verdict following a five-day trial in June this year.

Today at Manchester Crown Court, Akhtar, of Sufton Street, Huddersfield, was given a prison term of three years and three months.

Detective Inspector Paul Hutchinson, who led the investigation, 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, and also for the significant negative impact that gang-related violence and criminality have on our communities.

He continued: “West Yorkshire Police remains firmly committed to targeting serious and organised criminals under our ongoing Programme Precision initiative, and we will continue to relentlessly pursue those involved, no matter what their role or occupation, to keep our communities safe.”