Men appear in court accused of murdering mother and her three children in Bradford fire

Two men have appeared in court charged with the murder of a mother and her three children, who died in a house fire in Bradford.

Mohammed Shabir, 44, of Alice Street, Keighley, and Calum Sunderland, 25, of Calton Street, Keighley, have both also been charged with the attempted murder of Antonia Gawith.

Bryonie Gawith, 29, Denisty Birtle, nine, Oscar Birtle, five, and 22-month-old Aubree Birtle died following the fire at their home in Westbury Road, Bradford, in the early hours of August 21.

Ms Gawith died at the scene and her three children died from their injuries in hospital.

Today (August 28) Mohammed Shabir and Calum Sunderland appeared before a district judge at Bradford Magistrates’ Court.

They spoke only to confirm their names, dates of birth and addresses during the brief hearing and were not asked to indicate pleas to the charges.

Sunderland wore a grey sweatshirt and tracksuit bottoms, while Shabir wore a black zipped top.

Police said Sunderland was arrested following police inquiries in Keighley in the early hours of Monday morning.

Shabir was arrested when he attended a police station after 10am on the same day.

Four other people remain under investigation, including a 39-year-old man who was arrested at the scene on suspicion of murder and remains in hospital in a critical condition.

The family of the victims paid tribute last week saying the loss of “our B” and the children, referred to as “Chuch, Oggy and Strawberry”, had brought “unimaginable sadness and grief”.

It continued: “Our B was the life and soul of the party, music was a big part of her life, she loved music, singing and dancing, she would always be singing and dancing with Chuch (Denisty), Oggy (Oscar) and Strawberry (Aubree).

“B was always a really happy, joyful, bubbly beautiful woman, who cared for everyone and was loved by everyone, her kids were everything to her, her whole life.

“Oggy had the cheekiest smile, he was cheeky but he was a shy boy, Strawbs was shy and bashful with big blue eyes and blonde hair and Chuch was a beautiful, confident, outgoing and creative young girl.

“We are still trying to comprehend what has happened to our beautiful family.

“No words can describe how we are feeling and no words could ever make up for the profound loss we are now faced with.”

Both defendants have been remanded in custody until their next hearing at Bradford Crown Court on Thursday.

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