Reduced to 10 years
A former barrister who received the first-ever life sentence for perverting the course of justice after embarking on a “evil” plot to destroy the life of another barrister has had her sentence reduced on appeal.
Anisah Arif Ahmed, 34, was jailed in April for making a string of false allegations against her former lover Iqbal Mohammed after discovering he was married.
The elaborate campaign of revenge included sending details of the affair to his wife and colleagues, and an email to Mohammed’s head of chambers demanding an investigation into his integrity. She is also said have sent herself threatening messages using a fake email account in Mohammed’s name.
The court also heard how Ahmed falsely claimed to police that Mohammed had repeatedly raped her and recruited a former boyfriend, Mustafa Hussain, to bombard her with abusive messages from a phone purporting to belong to the barrister.
The campaign escalated further when Ahmed — who was disbarred in 2018 for making false claims about her legal qualifications and work experience in an attempt to secure pupillage — hatched a plan to stage her own kidnapping and asked her ex to stab her in a desperate bid to frame the St Philips‘ barrister.
Ahmed admitted one charge of perverting the course of justice and one of conspiracy to pervert the course of justice. She was handed a life sentence with a minimum term of four years, six months and ten days — the first time such a sentence had been imposed for perverting the course of justice.
But last week the Court of Appeal overturned the life sentence, opting instead to impose a 10 year prison term and a lifelong restraining order.
Addressing Ahmed via videolink, Lord Justice Edis reportedly 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.”