Murder accused accidentally spilled petrol before deadly Bradford house fire, court told

A man accused of murdering a mum and her three children in a house fire claims he spilled the petrol which started it accidentally, a court has heard.

Sharaz Ali, 40, is on trial accused of four counts of murder and one of attempted murder over the blaze on Westbury Road, Bradford, in August last year.

Bryonie Gawith, 29, and her three children, Denisty, Oscar and Aubree, all died in the house while Bryonie's sister Antonia Gawith survived.

Prosecutors say Ali - Antonia Gawith's ex-partner - started the fire out of revenge and had been "fuelled by drink and drugs" at the time. A second man, Calum Sunderland, is also charged.

Antonia Gawith has told Doncaster Crown Court she had been staying at the house when Ali and another man broke in during the early hours of 21 August, before Ali began pouring petrol and used a lighter to start the fire.

She said he then tried to go upstairs, but was kicked down by Bryonie.

She was cross-examined about her version of events on Friday.

Mohammed Nawaz KC, defending Ali, said his client denies deliberately pouring petrol in the house.

“He says you and he were wrestling with it and the petrol was spilling out in that way,” Mr Nawaz said.

Ms Gawith said: “No. He was pouring petrol when he walked in the door and he threw it onto me. That’s when I was trying to stop him from pouring it everywhere.”

Mr Nawaz said: “He doesn’t accept he went up the stairs and had any contact with Bryonie.” Ms Gawith refuted this, saying she saw it happen.

Messages sent to Antonia Gawith from Ali's phone on the night in question gave her the impression he had been drinking, she said, "because he wasn't making sense when he was speaking".

In a video shown to court on Thursday, Ms Gawith had told police officers she had been in a relationship with Ali which she described as controlling and abusive, and had recently ended it.

When asked by Mr Nawaz, she said that Ali had been saying he was “desperate to see her and have her back”. She said he had spoken the day before about killing himself and sent a video of him self-harming.

Ali, 40, of no fixed address, and Sunderland, 26, of Calton Street, Keighley, are charged with murdering Bryonie and the three children, and the attempted murder of Antonia.

Mohammed Shabir, 45, who had been due to go on trial with them accused of driving the car the two men were in, died of a heart attack last month after collapsing in prison.

Ali and Sunderland deny the charges and the trial continues.

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