A MAN driven by jealousy has been convicted of murdering a woman and her three young children after setting their Bradford home ablaze in in August last year.
Sharaz Ali, 40, poured petrol through the house on Westbury Road before starting a fire that killed Bryonie Gawith, 29, and her children Denisty, nine, Oscar, five, and 22-month-old Aubree.
Doncaster Crown Court heard Ali wanted to take revenge after his former partner, Antonia Gawith, ended their seven-year relationship. Prosecutors said he intended to "inflict maximum pain" and "did not care who was there", though he must have known the children were home.
Ali was found guilty of four counts of murder and one count of attempted murder. His accomplice, Calum Sunderland, 26, was convicted of four counts of manslaughter after he kicked the door in to let Ali enter.
The court heard the two men filled a canister with fuel from a petrol station in Keighley before driving to the house just after 2am on August 21. Ali poured petrol around inside and on Antonia, who was staying at her sister's home after leaving him.
Antonia told police in a video interview that Ali had been controlling and violent during their relationship. She said her sister Bryonie had given her the strength to end things while they were on holiday together, weeks before the fire.
"He used to go out on benders and get drunk and not come home, I was scared to leave him," Antonia said. "I was just so scared of him. I don't know why I stayed with him."
The court heard Ali blamed Bryonie for the break-up. In a threatening message to Antonia, he wrote: "I know who has caused this in my life … Better start praying cos now I'm going to get involved in her life and everyone is going to feel it."
On the night of the fire, Antonia finished her shift at Tesco at 12.30am and was sleeping in the main bedroom with her sister. She heard a noise, went downstairs and saw Ali forcing his way inside.
She ran outside, thinking he would follow her, but he stayed inside and lit the fire. Antonia described her desperate attempts to get back in through the back door while screaming for help.
"They said it wasn't safe. I was just begging them all and screaming and crying, and I just wanted to save them and I just couldn't," she said tearfully. "I just wanted to be with her."
Police officers pulled Ali from the burning house, but by the time firefighters arrived it was too late to save Bryonie and the three children, who were trapped upstairs.
Ali was seriously injured and spent several months in hospital. Sunderland was tracked down in the basement of a property in Keighley following extensive CCTV enquiries.
In a statement, Bryonie's family said: "Even with justice, nothing will ever make this right. Nothing will ever fill the silence where their laughter should be."
They described Bryonie as "the glue that held us all together" and "the most devoted mother" to her children.
Detective chief inspector Stacey Atkinson described the actions of both men as "horrific and truly callous". She added: "They left a mum and her three children completely helpless whilst her sister and their auntie watched on in horror."
Both men will be sentenced at a later date.
