Family handoutA man accused of murder over a fatal fire which killed a mother and her three children “wanted to inflict maximum pain” on the victims, a trial has heard.
Prosecutors allege Sharaz Ali, 40, was “motivated by jealousy and fuelled by drink and drugs” when he set fire to the home of Bryonie Gawith, 29, and her three small children, on Westbury Road, Bradford, in August last year.
Ms Gawith’s sister, Antonia Gawaith, was staying at the address at the time of the fire, after ending her relationship with Mr Ali.
Delivering his closing speech to jurors at Doncaster Crown Court on Friday, prosecutor David Brooke KC said Mr Ali “must have known” the children were at home but “didn’t care who was there”.
The court previously heard Mr Ali had gone to the house and poured petrol around inside, as well as on himself, causing Antonia to flee the premises in an attempt to lure him out.
However, the prosecution said Mr Ali stayed in the house and used a lighter to start a “catastrophic” blaze, which killed Bryonie and her three children, who were all upstairs.
In his final speech Mr Brooke told jurors: “Whilst a trial can show us the best of humanity – think of the actions of those first two police officers who went into that burning house – equally it can expose us to the worst of human behaviour.
“Little did those officers know they were saving a man who had, moments before, deliberately set fire to a house with a mother and her children upstairs, knowing he was condemning them to, at the very least, really serious harm, if not death.”
‘Anger, resentment and self-pity’
He added: “And why? A deep and persistent anger and jealousy towards his former partner Antonia – an action designed to inflict maximum pain on her, both physically, as he soaked her in petrol, and mentally, as he took his revenge on her and her sister.”
Mr Brooke said in the days before the fire Ali had sent messages including one to Antonia saying: “I know who caused this in my life and deep down you do too.”
The prosecutor said: “When it comes to motivation, you don’t just have Antonia’s evidence, you have those texts, setting out clear as could be the anger, the resentment, the self-pity, the drunkenness, the threats.”
Bryonie Gawith and her children Denisty, nine, Oscar, five, and 22-month-old Aubree Birtle all died in the fire.
Mr Ali, of no fixed address, and Calum Sunderland, 26, from Keighley, are charged with murdering Bryonie and the three children, and attempting to murder Antonia.
Mr Sunderland previously told the trial he had been enlisted by Ali to “torch a car” and did not know there were people in the house.
Mr Ali and Mr Sunderland deny the charges against them.
The trial continues.
