Shahid Mohammed to serve at least 23 years for murdering five children and three adults in petrol bomb attack

This article is more than 1 year old

This article is more than 1 year old

A murderer who took the lives of five children and three adults in a house fire 17 years ago has been jailed for at least 23 years.

Eight members of the Chishti family died when Shahid Mohammed, 37, carried out the attack, on 12 May 2002, with other men following a long-running and bitter family dispute.

The victims were asleep in their home in Osborne Road, Birkby, Huddersfield, when petrol bombs were thrown inside the property. Petrol was also poured through their letterbox and ignited.

Man convicted of murdering eight in 2002 Huddersfield house fire Read more

The five children who died along with their mother, uncle and grandmother, stood little chance of escaping the inferno, prosecutors told Leeds crown court.

Mohammed had been investigated by the police for his role in setting the fire, but while others stood trial in 2003 he fled to Pakistan. Despite his attempts to evade justice he was located and arrested in Rawalpindi, Pakistan, on 22 January 2015, following a joint operation between West Yorkshire police, the National Crime Agency and Pakistani authorities.

After being held in prison he was extradited to the UK in October 2018 – after more than 10 years on the run – to be charged with the murders.

A four-week trial at Leeds crown court heard howMohammed had disapproved of Saud Pervez, the boyfriend of his sister, Shahida. Prosecutors said Mohammed Ateeq-Ur-Rehman, one of those who died in the fire, had probably been the target of the arson attack as he had played an “active part” in maintaining the couple’s relationship.

After being convicted of eight counts of murder and a single charge of conspiracy to commit arson with intent to endanger life, Mohammed was jailed on Wednesday for life with a minimum of 23 years.

The family members who died were Ateeq-Ur-Rehman, 18, his sister Nafeesa Aziz, 35, and her children, Tayyaba, 13, Rabina, 10, Ateeqa Nawaz, five, Aneesa Zawaz, two, and Najeebah Nawaz, six months.

Zaib-Un-Nisa, 54, the children’s grandmother, died in hospital after jumping out of a window to escape the flames during the attack.

One surviving member of the family, Siddiqah Aziz, told jurors how she managed to save her father, Abdul Chishti, from the fire but was prevented from coming to the aid of other relatives when she was met by a wall of flames.

She said: “When I went downstairs the smoke was coming through the front room. I got my dad through to the cellar because he was really weak, and I came back for the others. But when I came back the fire was too strong, it was too much.”

Alistair MacDonald QC, prosecuting, said: “All those who were upstairs were overwhelmingly likely to be trapped on the upper floors by the fire that rapidly developed once the petrol had been ignited.”

A year after the killings three men were convicted at a trial for their involvement. Shaied Iqbal was found guilty of eight counts of murder, and Shakiel Shazad and Nazar Hussain were convicted of manslaughter.

MacDonald said the attack had been carefully planned, and that Iqbal and Mohammed had discussed the size of the flames together as they were driven from the scene.