Samreen Akhtar, a 38-year-old barrister who had built a public profile promoting social mobility in the legal profession, has been jailed for more than three years after plotting a revenge attack with a criminal client. Akhtar was convicted of encouraging or assisting grievous bodily harm with intent after conspiring with career criminal Tabish Ali to track down and seriously injure the man who had shot Ali during a drugs turf war in Huddersfield. The case represents a dramatic fall from grace for a lawyer previously celebrated for her working-class background and advocacy for aspiring black and Asian barristers.

Akhtar was sentenced to three years and three months at Manchester Crown Court, having been recorded the day after Ali's shooting on 14 September 2021 discussing a plan for reprisal. She was arrested in February 2022 and charged under the Serious Crime Act 2007, denying the charge but being convicted by majority verdict after a five-day trial in June. Ali, her client, was later convicted of the murder of Jamal Nedd and jailed for life in July 2022; West Yorkshire Police said Akhtar had betrayed her professional and moral responsibilities by becoming a criminal herself.