A WOMAN desperately pleaded with her “jealous” ex-partner as he poured petrol on her, intent on seeking “revenge” by killing her in a house fire, a court has heard.
Sharaz Ali, 40, of no fixed abode, poured seven litres of petrol inside a house on Westbury Road, Bradford, in the early hours of August 21 last year and set off a “catastrophic” fire, Doncaster Crown Court has heard this week.
He was allegedly attempting to murder his ex-partner of seven years, Antonia Gawith, who had broken up with him earlier that month, but instead it ended with her sister, Bryonie Gawith, 29, and her children, Denisty Birtle, 9, Oscar Birtle, 5, and Aubree Birtle, 22 months old, dying.
He denies murdering Ms Gawith and her children, as well as attempting to murder and attempting to cause GBH to Antonia Gawith.
Bryonie Gawith (Image: UGC)
The trial heard evidence from Antonia Gawith on Thursday, in the form of two recorded videos of police interviews with her and in court itself.
Ms Gawith had returned from her shift at Tesco at 12.45am to her sister’s house, where she was staying while Ali made arrangements to leave Ms Gawith’s home, the court heard.
She had been talking to her sister on the bed before Bryonie Gawith fell asleep and at 1.45am she heard the Ring doorbell go off and a “noise”.
Ms Gawith went down the stairs and said the door was “booted in” and began screaming “what are you doing?”
She added that Ali “ran at me with the petrol” and started pouring it on her.
The court heard she tried to fight Ali to get control of the large canister in one of his hands and a lighter in his other hand that he was trying to use.
She said to Ali: “Please don’t do this, don’t, I’ll come back with you, I’ll come home, just don’t do this please.”
David Brooke KC said in the prosecution’s opening statement on Tuesday that Ali was “motivated by jealousy and fuelled by drink and drugs” that night.
Ali was shouting during the ordeal, but Ms Gawith could not remember what he said.
She said he seemed “angry and not himself” and added, “he just seemed so different, he wasn’t listening, he wouldn’t listen to me”.
After lifting the cordon, the police moved floral tributes to the front of the home on Westbury Road (Image: Telegraph & Argus)
Ms Gawith managed to wrestle the canister off Ali after she returned to the house from running outside in the hope he would follow, the court heard.
The canister was thrown into the garden, but Ms Gawith was unable to drag him outside.
She said: “I didn’t have the strength to do it, I couldn’t grab him, I couldn’t get him.”
The court heard Ali lit the fire, and Ms Gawith saw it spread upstairs and said it must have burnt her sister.
Ms Gawith said: “He went ‘argh argh’, you could see him go through the glass, I could see him on fire”.
Ali was pulled out of the building unconscious but survived after being in a coma for several months.
The court has heard previously that Ali enlisted the help of Calum Sunderland, 26, of Carlton Street, Keighley and Mohammed Shabir, 45, for the alleged plot.
Sunderland is part of the trial with Ali and denies murdering Bryonie Gawith and her children, and attempted murder and attempted GBH in relation to Antonia Gawith.
Shabir, who had been due to go on trial with them, died in hospital of a heart attack last month after collapsing in prison.
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