“These are truly dreadful crimes.”
A man has been convicted of murdering his ex-partner’s sister and her three children in a house fire in Bradford.
Jurors found that Sharaz Ali set the blaze at Bryonie Gawith’s home in the early hours of August 21, 2024. Prosecutors said he was “motivated by jealousy and fuelled by drink and drugs”.
The court heard Ali went to the Westbury Road property to “take revenge” on his former partner, Antonia Gawith, who had ended their “abusive” seven-year relationship. She had been staying with her sister at the time.
Antonia escaped the fire, however, Bryonie and her children Denisty Birtle, aged nine, Oscar Birtle, aged five, and 22-month-old Aubree Birtle, died before emergency crews could reach them.
Ali told the jury he had not planned to injure anyone when the fire began, saying:
“I didn’t want to hurt anyone but myself.”
After a trial at Doncaster Crown Court, he was found guilty of four counts of murder and attempted murder.
Calum Sunderland, who accompanied Ali and kicked in the door for him, was convicted of the manslaughter of Bryonie and her children.
Jurors cleared him of murder as well as attempted murder and an alternative charge of attempting to cause grievous bodily harm.
A third man, Mohammed Shabir, had been due to stand trial but died in October after collapsing in prison.
Outside court, Antonia Gawith said her family’s future had been “stolen”.
She said: “Even with justice, nothing will ever make this right.
“Nothing will ever fill the silence where their laughter should be. Nothing will ever bring back our family.
“We will forever carry this brokenness, and yet we will hold on to them tightly in only ways we can now, through our memories, our photos and our precious videos. Those are all we have left now.”
Mr Justice Hilliard described the case as “distressing beyond measure – three children and their mother murdered”.
He said: “I don’t think anyone who heard Antonia’s desperate cries for help will ever forget them.
“These are truly dreadful crimes.”
He also praised the “extraordinary bravery” of those who tried to reach the children as the house burned.
The court heard that Ali and Sunderland, a convicted arsonist, travelled to the house with Shabir after stopping to fill a seven-litre petrol can.
Video doorbell footage showed Ali urging Sunderland, who carried the can and a lighter, to “kick the door in”.
Antonia Gawith said she saw an “angry” Ali storm inside and pour petrol on her while shouting before igniting the fire.
In a video interview shown to the jury, she cried as she described trying to reach her sister and the children.
Antonia said:
“I was just screaming, trying to get back in the house and I couldn’t get in. I couldn’t save them.”
Detective Chief Inspector Stacey Atkinson of West Yorkshire Police said:
“Bryonie and her three children would still be alive today if it wasn’t for the horrific and truly callous actions of Ali and Sunderland that day.
“They left a mum and her three children completely helpless whilst her sister and their auntie watched on in horror.
“Our thoughts and sympathies are with the family, who despite their immense strength of character now face the rest of their lives without them.”
Senior Crown Prosecution Service prosecutor Amanda McInnes said Ali was a “selfish killer who had no regard for anyone but himself”.
She added: “He was motivated by jealousy and his actions have now needlessly robbed a family of their loved ones.
“Both men played their role and caused the deaths of a young family who should still be with us today.”
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