IQBAL Mohammed is a barrister whose career was nearly brought to an end by a scheme hatched by an ex-lover.
An ITV drama named The Real Fatal Attraction examines the terrifying plot that Anisah Ahmed devised, which saw him arrested in his own chambers.
Superstar barrister
Iqbal earned his bachelor’s degree in law from the University of Warwick in 2005, before going on to pass the Bar Vocational Course at BPP Law School in 2007.
He specializes in commercial law, which he studied in 2017 at the University of Warwick.
The barrister is one of the most respected in his field and has been nominated for Commercial Lawyer of the Year by the Society of Asian Lawyers in 2017, alongside a nomination for Barrister of the year by Birmingham Law Society in 2019.
Life seemed perfect for the high-flying barrister, who married his wife in 2013, but everything changed when he received a “connect” request on LinkedIn.
Meeting Anisah Ahmed
Ahmed followed up her “connect” request with an email sent straight to Iqbal’s inbox which was filled with probing questions about the lawyer’s career.
Put off by the “haughty” tone of her questioning, Iqbal decided to ignore her messages.
She tried again three years later, using a new profile picture and simply said “hi” in her request.
Iqbal decided to respond, beginning a flirty conversation which eventually led to a full-blown nine-month-long affair.
Ahmed said that she was unaware that the barrister was married and Iqbal said she was furious when the truth came out.
She contacted Iqbal’s wife and told her about the affair, before launching an elaborate revenge plot that nearly ruined Iqbal’s life.
Iqbal is arrested
Ahmed forged emails from Iqbal’s work account and claimed that the barrister was threatening to post intimate pictures of her online.
When her actions prompted an investigation by the police into her harassment of Iqbal, she decided to take things one step further.
Iqbal was arrested in his chambers in June 2015, in front of his colleagues, and questioned by the police for hours for a crime he did not commit.
Unbeknownst to him, Ahmed had falsely accused him of rape and his wife’s home was being searched for evidence.
Ahmed then faked a kidnapping to make it appear as if Iqbal had hired a hitman to kill her.
In actual fact, she had hired an ex-boyfriend to make the fake kidnapping look more believable but even he was unable to go through with the most sinister part of her plan.
Ahmed wanted him to stab her, to make her allegations even more believable, but she decided to take matters into her own hands when he refused.
She stabbed herself in the leg, narrowly avoiding an essential artery, and called the police who rushed to the scene.
On the way to the hospital, she made sure to mention Iqbal’s name so he would be incriminated.
Eventually, Ahmed’s scheme was unraveled and she was handed a life sentence for her crimes.
The charges against Iqbal were dropped and he was able to reconcile with his wife, after a period of separation.
The Real Fatal Attraction
The shocking crime has been likened to the plot of the 1987 film Fatal Attraction, which saw Glenn Close’s character Alex Forrest stalk Michael Douglas’ Dan Gallagher.
Fatal Attraction became one of the most iconic films of the decade when Alex boiled Dan’s rabbit in a pot on the stove.
An ITV series named The Real Fatal Attraction, which dives into Ahmed’s crimes, will air on November 13, 2024.
Fans can rewatch the series after it airs live through ITV’s streaming service ITVX.
