How calculated Barrister Embarked On evil Campaign Of Lies
Fatal Attraction, starring Michael Douglas and Glenn Close, is a seminal film in the female stalker subgenre of erotic thrillers. It was considered to be a pop culture phenomenon, albeit a little far-fetched.
But that opinion might change when the ITV documentary, The Real Fatal Attraction, airs on Wednesday, as it bears a striking resemblance to the 1987 thriller.
It tells the story of scorned barrister, Anisah Ahmed, who embarks on an elaborate revenge plot against her lover, Iqbal Mohammed, 41, after discovering he is married.
The 37-year-old falsely claimed she was was raped and staged her own kidnapping and stabbing in an 'evil' campaign of lies made against Mr Mohammed in order to destroy his life and reputation.
Ahmed became the first person to receive a life sentence for perverting the course of justice in April 2021, but her sentence was overturned by the Court of Appeal seven months later, who changed her prison term to 10 years.
Now in a devastating blow to her victim, Ahmed, from Oxford, has been released from prison after spending less than four years in jail. She is under a home detention curfew, which she means she has to wear an electronic tag and is restricted to what times she can leave the house.
Reflecting on the case, Mr Mohammed told The Sun: 'My biggest worry was that she was going to stab me or my wife.'
Anisah Ahmed (pictured), 37, was handed a life sentence after staging her own kidnapping, rape and stabbing. It was later reduced to 10 years but she has been freed after four
CCTV footage of Iqbal Mohammed (pictured) being interviewed by police after allegations were made by Ahmed
Ahmed sitting in an ambulance after stabbing herself in the leg in a bid to frame her former lover
Blood on the car seat as Ahmed stabbed herself in the leg in a bid to frame Mr Mohammed
The barrister, who specialises in commercial law, said it became 'instinct' to look around outside his house to make sure Ahmed wasn't 'lurking around' when he went to work.
According to The Sun, Mr Mohammed and his wife changed their cars, moved house and altered their day-to-day routines to protect themselves.
In the film, Close's character Alex stalks and terrorises attorney Dan Gallagher, played by Douglas, as she seeks to ruin his marriage and have him all to herself.
'I watched the movie again after all of this happened and I found it too real, too close to home, I knew that obsessive, psychotic behaviour,' Mr Mohammed told The Sun.
It is understood Ahmed first contacted Mr Mohammed after watching him on the 2008 BBC docuseries The Barristers.
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She sent him her CV and asked for career advice via email and LinkedIn but their relationship turned flirty in 2013.
Ahmed and Mr Mohammed, who is still with his wife, embarked upon a nine-month relationship with him in 2014, a court previously heard.
Ahmed claims she was unaware that Iqbal was married during this time. The barrister had tied the knot with his wife in December 2013.
When Ahmed discovered Mr Mohammed was married, she contacted his wife on social media and told her about the affair.
She also sent intimate messages of their affair to his colleagues, before emailing his Head of Chambers demanding an investigation into his integrity.
Ahmed's actions then took a more sinister turn when she sent Celebrity Deep Fake emails from his work account and claimed Mr Mohammed was harassing her and that he was threatening to post intimate pictures of her online.
Mr Mohammed told The Sun he was 'scared' of Ahmed because her 'agenda was pure revenge'.
After her initial plan failed, Ahmed then took things a step further by falsely accusing Mr Mohammed of raping her on several occasions, giving detailed and convincing accounts to investigators.
In June 2015, Mr Mohammed was arrested at his chambers and spent seven hours in a police cell.
Iqbal Mohammed (pictured) 41, was framed by his former lover Anisah Ahmed after she discovered he was married
Glenn Close and Michael Douglas star in the 1987 erotic thriller Fatal Attraction
Mr Mohammed said 'it was really traumatic being in that cell' and admitted he 'wanted to die' because he thought people would believe Ahmed.
In a final, desperate bid to frame her ex-lover, Ahmed then staged her own kidnap and stabbing — roping in an ex-boyfriend as an accomplice — who confessed to police she had ordered him to knife her three times.
When he refused, fearing he might accidentally kill her, Ahmed is believed to have stabbed herself — almost severing her femoral artery with a horrific injury to her thigh.
She told police Mr Mohammed had ordered the attack on her, later producing a forged confession from an imaginary hitman.
Ahmed was sentenced in April 2021 after pleading guilty to perverting and conspiring to pervert the course of justice.
Sentencing, Judge Michael Gledhill said: 'This case clearly involved very careful planning to destroy the personal and professional life of the victim. The lengths you went to, to exact revenge on Mr Mohammed were almost beyond belief.
Reflecting on the case, Mr Mohammed told The Sun: 'My biggest worry was that she was going to stab me or my wife'
'Your actions, Ms Ahmed, were malicious, even evil. You persisted with them over a prolonged period of time and you recruited Hussain and others to assist you.
'False allegations can have dreadful consequences on an innocent person who has committed no crime. Being wrongly accused of harassment is serious enough.
'But accusing him of rape is in quite another category.'
Judge Gledhill added: 'As a barrister, Ahmed was well aware of the gravity of what she had done and the potential consequences to herself. In order to avoid such consequences, her strategy then took an even more sinister turn.
'She made another attempt to frame Mr Mohammed for a serious criminal offence. She reported that he had raped her on several occasions. Her complaint was detailed and convincing, even though it was completely false.
'Her purpose was twofold - revenge and to divert the police attention away from herself and back onto Mr Mohammed. In the short term it worked. Mr Mohammed was again arrested and interviewed.
'The effect on Mr Mohammed can hardly be over-stated. He saw his career, livelihood and family life disintegrating before his eyes, he even thought of taking his own life.'
The Real Fatal Attraction is an ITV documentary series that analyses Ahmed's criminal scheme.
The series will air at 9pm on ITV1 on Wednesday, but will be available to stream on ITV X afterwards.
ITV