A pioneering lawyer who plotted a brutal revenge on her gangster client after he was shot during a bloody drug war has been jailed.
Samreen Akhtar, 38, was sentenced to three years and three months behind bars at Manchester Crown Court after a jury found her guilty of causing grievous bodily harm with intent or aiding or abetting.
The lawyer became embroiled in the violent underworld feud after her client, career criminal Tabish Ali, was shot and injured in Huddersfield on September 14, 2021.
The next day, Akhtar was recorded on a phone call in which Ali proposed a plan to find the man responsible for the shooting so that he could be seriously injured.
Her imprisonment marks an extraordinary fall from grace for a lawyer who had previously built a public profile by championing social mobility and encouraging aspiring black and Asian lawyers to break into the profession.
During Akhtar’s trial it became clear how Ali was already deeply involved in a brutal gang feud that had plagued Huddersfield for years with shootings and other violence.
Just weeks after the revenge plot, he was charged with the murder of Jamal Nedd, who was shot outside his home in Ripon Avenue, Huddersfield, on December 19, 2020.
Ali was later convicted of murder along with two other men and given a life sentence in July 2022.
Samreen Akhtar, 38, was sentenced to three years and three months behind bars at Manchester Crown Court after a jury found her guilty of causing grievous bodily harm with intent
The lawyer became embroiled in the violent underworld feud after her client, career criminal Tabish Ali (pictured), was shot and injured in Huddersfield on September 14, 2021.
Police believed the September 2021 attack on Ali was also linked to the same feud.
Akhtar was arrested by detectives in February 2022 and charged under the Serious Crime Act 2007 with encouraging or assisting the commission of an offense the following year.
She denied wrongdoing but was convicted by majority verdict after a five-day trial in June.
Detective Inspector Paul Hutchinson, who led the investigation for West Yorkshire Police, said: ‘As a professional working in the criminal justice system, Samreen Akhtar would have been well aware of her legal and moral responsibilities, but she chose to act outside of it and take revenge on a dangerous criminal who was involved in a violent gang feud, including 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 expected of those in the legal profession, as well as the significant negative impact that gang-related violence and crime has on our communities.”
Akhtar had previously spoken proudly about her working-class background and her journey to the Bar.
She described how her father, a mechanic, came home from work and helped proofread her apprentice applications.
In a 2020 interview, Akhtar said she broke with tradition by continuing her education after the age of 16 and later studying law at the University of Huddersfield.
She subsequently became a social mobility attorney, encouraging minority women to pursue a career at the bar despite the obstacles they may face.
