Mum of three ‘acted with immense courage’ as her killer poured petrol around | UK | News

A woman whose sister, nieces and nephew were killed when her abusive former partner torched their house in a jealous rage said she was “haunted” by being the target of the attack as he was handed a whole life prison order. Sharaz Ali was jailed after setting fire to the home of Bryonie Gawith and her three small children in the early hours of August 21, 2024. A court heard he went there to “take revenge” on his ex-girlfriend Antonia Gawith, who was staying with her sister after ending their abusive seven-year relationship.

While Antonia managed to escape the fire, Bryonie, 29, and her three children – Denisty Birtle, nine, Oscar Birtle, five, and Aubree Birtle, 22 months – were trapped upstairs and could not be saved. On Friday Ali, 40, was given a whole life order for murdering Bryonie and the children, and attempting to murder Antonia.

Calum Sunderland, 26, who went with Ali to the house and kicked the door in for him, was jailed for life with a minimum term of 18 years for manslaughter.

Antonia tearfully told the hearing that Bryonie’s children were “my babies, my joy” and that “knowing they died because someone wanted to kill me is a torment I can never put into words”.

Sitting in the dock in a wheelchair, Ali looked down and the dock officer sitting between him and Sunderland appeared to start crying as Antonia read her victim personal statement to Doncaster Crown Court.

She said: “What haunts me the most is the attack was meant for me. I was the target, petrol was poured on me and my life was meant to end that night.”

Antonia went on to say: “I can’t escape the thought that I was spared when they were taken. How can I move on when they never had the chance to.”

Sobs could be heard from family in the public gallery as Antonia said Bryonie “had warmth that could fill a room and a heart so big she would give the world away if she could”.

She described being told that Bryonie and Denisty had died at the scene and Oscar and Aubree were pronounced dead at the hospital, saying: “I could only sit there broken as pieces of my heart were ripped away.”

The judge, Mr Justice Hilliard, said Ali’s intention was to “wipe out a family” and the three children were “acceptable collateral damage” because he was “so full of hatred for Bryonie”, who he blamed for the break-up, and determined that, if he could not be with Antonia, no-one else could.

He said Bryonie “acted with immense courage” by staying in the house with her children when she saw Ali pouring petrol around.

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“Although she must have known what Mr Ali was going to do, there was no way she was going to run out of the house and desert her children,” Mr Justice Hilliard said.

“She remained at the top of the stairs to protect them. Bryonie acted with immense courage. I hope that will be how her family will remember her last moments. She was determined to protect her children if she possibly could. She begged Mr Ali to stop but he completely ignored her.”

The judge said “substantial pre-meditation,” went into the murders, adding: “I’m sure, on all the evidence, that (Ali) had determined to burn down the house and anyone in it, including the children, if Antonia did not change her mind. She did not do so.”

He said he was sure Sunderland “knew the house was occupied” and agreed to an “extraordinarily dangerous” scheme, adding: “He played with fire and four people died as a result.”

Prosecutor David Brooke KC said there were features of the case which would “justify the consideration of a whole life order,” including the level of pre-meditation shown by Ali when he travelled a “considerable distance” to the house, stopping to buy petrol on the way.

He said the murders were “particularly cruel” and the fact that Ali poured petrol on Antonia showed “an intention to kill through means that would have been excruciatingly painful”.

Mr Brooke said the jury had been “shielded” from the suffering of the children, as what sounded like a child’s scream on the 999 call had been muted when it was played during the trial.

He told the court Ali had inflicted mental suffering on Bryonie, who “begged him to stop”, and at least one of the children.

“We say it’s plain that at least one child did wake, sadly,” Mr Brooke said.

“Although the pathologist’s view is that the children would have succumbed pretty quickly, nevertheless the screams of children which were muted for the jury could be heard.”

Ahead of the sentencing hearing Detective Chief Inspector Stacey Atkinson, who led the investigation, said Ali knew the children were in the house and “knew they had no way of escape”.

Drug dealer Ali was rescued from the fire by police officers but suffered serious injuries and was initially not expected to survive.

He was put on trial last year after coming out of a coma and recovering enough to be charged.

Jurors were told that Ali suffered burns to 70% of his body, two fingers on each of his hands had been amputated, and that he still uses oxygen and has difficulty speaking.

Mohammed Nawaz KC, representing Ali, said that although his injuries were self-inflicted, they meant that prison “would be extremely harshly felt” by him.

He said Ali had “continually expressed, to his legal team, remorse for the loss of life he caused”.

Nicholas Worsley KC, representing Sunderland, said he had initially believed he was going to torch a car and that the house was empty.

Antonia told police that Bryonie had given her the “confidence and support” to leave her violent and controlling relationship with Ali weeks before the fire, and that Ali had blamed her sister for the break-up.

On the night of the fatal blaze, Ali and convicted arsonist Sunderland, who sometimes sold drugs for Ali, were driven to the house on Westbury Road, Bradford, by Mohammed Shabir, who was due to go on trial with them but died of a heart attack while on remand.

Jurors heard they stopped on the way to fill a seven-litre canister with petrol, and Ali sent Antonia a series of aggressive messages accusing her of being with someone else.

When the men arrived, Antonia, who had finished her shift at Tesco at 12.30am, was with Bryonie in the main bedroom upstairs.

Doorbell footage captured Ali telling Sunderland, who was carrying the petrol and a lighter, to “kick the door in”, which he did before running back to the car.

Antonia said she went downstairs after hearing a noise and saw an “angry” Ali run into the house and begin pouring petrol on her while shouting.

She described trying to wrestle the canister and lighter from him, before running outside in an attempt to lure him out of the house.

As she realised he had not followed her, Antonia went back towards the house and saw Bryonie, who had woken up, kick Ali down the stairs.

Antonia said Ali then hit the lighter, igniting the petrol and setting himself and the house on fire.

In a video interview played to jurors, Antonia sobbed as she told police how she “couldn’t save” her sister, nieces and nephew.

She described trying frantically to get in through the back door, which was jammed shut, while screaming for help.