Two men are on trial in the United Kingdom for the alleged murder of one suspect’s ex-girlfriend’s sister and the sister’s three children in a failed revenge plot.
Both pleaded not guilty to the accusations.
In opening arguments on Tuesday, Nov. 18, prosecutors stated before jurors that Sharaz Ali, 40, of Bradford, sought to “take revenge” on his ex-girlfriend Antonia Gawith by setting fire to her Bradford home in the early morning hours of Aug. 21, 2024, according to the BBC.
Antonia escaped, but her sister, Bryonie Gawith, 29, and her three young children, Denisty, 9, Oscar, 5, and Aubree Birtle, 22 months, perished in the fire.
Police charged Ali and his buddy, Calum Sunderland, 26, of Keighley, with four counts of murder, attempted murder, and attempting to inflict grievous bodily harm.
Ali was allegedly “motivated by jealousy and fueled by drink and drugs” and “decided to take revenge on his ex-partner Antonia regardless of the potential consequences for others,” prosecutor David Brooke told jurors on the first day of the trial on Tuesday, Nov. 18, according to the BBC.
Brooke stated that Ali broke into the house just before 2 a.m. and poured gasoline inside, causing it to catch fire.
Bryonie and her three children perished in the “catastrophic” fire, he claimed.
Lindsay Pearson, 56, told The Guardian that her daughter heard screams coming from the residence at 1.45am.
Soon after, her daughter noticed “a big flame, like the sky was all lit up,” adding, “It was like thunder and lightning, like you see in a thunderstorm.”
Ali was hurt during the fire. “Caught by his own actions,” Ali needed to be saved from the fire, Brooke told jurors.
Brooke informed jurors that Antonia had been in a relationship with Ali for seven years.
Brooke stated that she left him to reside at her sister Bryonie’s place because she was tired of his claimed abuse and alcohol use.
Mohammed Amjid Shabir, a third suspect, allegedly drove Ali and Sunderland to the house before dying of a heart attack in jail while awaiting trial, according to the BBC.
