Murder charges over house fire that killed family
Handout/West Yorkshire Police
Two men have been charged with murder after a mother and her three young children were killed in a house fire.
Bryonie Gawith, 29 and her children Denisty Birtle, nine, Oscar Birtle, five, and Aubree Birtle, 22 months, died in the blaze on Westbury Road, Bradford, on 21 August.
Mohammed Shabir, 44, of Alice Street, Keighley, and Calum Sunderland, 25, of Calton Street, Keighley, have both been charged with four counts of murder and one count of attempted murder.
Both men are due to appear at Bradford Magistrates’ Court on Wednesday.
Four other people remained under investigation, West Yorkshire Police confirmed.
A 39-year-old man who was arrested at the scene on suspicion of murder is still in hospital in a critical condition.
A 36-year-old man who was arrested on Friday on suspicion of murder and attempted murder has been interviewed and released on conditional bail.
A 54-year-old woman and a 42-year-old man who were arrested on Monday on suspicion of assisting an offender have been interviewed and released on bail.
West Yorkshire Police
Police earlier said that the incident was being treated as “domestic-related” and the fire had been started deliberately.
Emergency services were called to the house in the early hours of 21 August.
In a tribute, the children’s father, Jonathan, said he was “absolutely distraught at the sudden loss of my fiancée, Bryonie and our three beautiful children”.
He added: “I loved them with all my heart and if I had the chance, I would take their place in a heartbeat. I cannot imagine life without them.”
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