A man accused of murdering his ex-partner’s sister and her three children in a house fire “wanted to inflict maximum pain” and “didn’t care who was there,” a court has heard.
At Doncaster Crown Court, prosecutors said that Sharaz Ali, 40, was “motivated by jealousy and fuelled by drink and drugs” when he allegedly set fire to Bryonie Gawith’s home in August last year.
Mr Ali is accused of starting the fire as an act of “revenge” against his former partner, Antonia Gawith, who had been staying at the address after she ended their “abusive” relationship.
The court was told that the 40-year-old poured petrol inside the house and on himself and Ms Gawith, prompting her to run outside in an attempt to draw him out.
Ali was ‘motivated by jealousy and fuelled by drink and drugs’ when he allegedly set fire to Bryonie Gawith’s home
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However, Mr Ali remained inside the home and sparked a “catastrophic” fire with a lighter, killing Bryonie and her three children, all of whom were upstairs at the time, Doncaster Crown Court heard.
During the trial, he claimed he had only planned to set himself on fire in front of his ex-partner.
Earlier, the court heard that police officers, first to arrive, were able to rescue the defendant from the flames.
On Friday, prosecutor David Brooke KC described the case as “particularly grim” in his closing remarks to the jury.
Doncaster Crown Court heard that the 40-year-old poured petrol inside the house and on himself and Ms Gawith
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PAHe told jurors: “Whilst a trial can sometimes show us the best of humanity – think of the actions of those first two police officers who went into that burning house – equally it can expose us to the worst of human behaviour.
“Little did those officers know they were saving a man who had, moments before, deliberately set fire to a house with a mother and her children upstairs, knowing he was condemning them to, at the very least, really serious harm, if not death.
“And why? A deep and persistent anger and jealousy towards his former partner Antonia, fuelled by drink and drugs – an action designed to inflict maximum pain on her, both physically, as he soaked her in petrol, and mentally, as he took his revenge on her and her sister.”
The prosecutor also told the court that the 40-year-old had sent a series text messages to his ex-partner in the days before the blaze, which read: “I know who caused this in my life and deep down you do too…you and your w***e sister.”
Mr Brooke told jurors: “When it comes to motivation, you don’t just have Antonia’s evidence, you have those texts, setting out clear as could be the anger, the resentment, the self-pity, the drunkenness, the threats.”
He added that the defendant “must have known” his ex-partner’s children were inside the house at the time, adding “He didn’t care who was there – he wanted to inflict maximum damage on anyone he could find in that house.”
Mohammed Nawaz KC, defending, told the court: “His defence is, he was there because he was intoxicated, drunk, affected by cocaine, and wasn’t thinking straight.
He said that Mr Ali only intended to “kill himself” with “no intention to cause a fire to the house or to cause harm to anyone else”.
Mr Nawaz added: “His thinking that the fire would stop at him was very obviously wrong, however that does not mean he intended to cause harm to others, even if, ultimately and tragically, that was the result.”
Bryonie, 29, and her children Denisty Birtle, nine, Oscar Birtle, five, and 22-month-old Aubree Birtle all died as a result of the fire.
Mr Ali has been charged with four counts of murder and one count of attempted murder.
He denies the charges against him.