A drink and drug-fuelled thug who planned to ‘wipe out a whole family’ will never be released from prison for murdering his ex-girlfriend’s sister and her three children.
Sharaz Ali, 40, has been given a whole life order at Doncaster Crown Court for murdering Bryonie Gawith and her children Denisty, nine, Oscar, five, and 22-month-old Aubree Birtle by setting fire to their house in Bradford in August 2024.
The blaze was a botched revenge attack on Bryonie’s sister, Antonia Gawith, who had been staying with the family after she ended her seven-year relationship with Ali.
Antonia managed to escape the fire, but Bryonie, 29, and her children were trapped upstairs and could not be saved.
Ali was motivated by ‘revenge and sexual jealousy’ when he went to the property in the middle of the night, stopping on his journey to fill a seven-litre canister with petrol.
On his way to the property, he sent Antonia a series of aggressive messages accusing her of being with someone else, jurors heard.
The sisters were upstairs when Antonia heard a noise, went downstairs and saw Ali forcing his way into the house before pouring petrol on her and himself.
The court heard she ran outside, thinking Ali would follow her, but he stayed inside, using a lighter to start the fire that killed Bryonie and the children.
Bryonie Gawith, 29, and her three children, Denisty Birtle, nine, Oscar Birtle, five, and Aubree Birtle, 22 months, were murdered by Sharaz Ali in a Bradford house fire
Ali, 40, will never be released from prison for starting the fire that killed a mother and her three children in a ‘revenge’ attack
Antonia ran outside thinking Ali would follow her, but he stayed inside, using a lighter to start the fire.
The monster suffered significant burns himself and now requires a wheelchair and assistance to breathe.
At court today, Antonia said she was ‘haunted’ by the thought that she was the intended target of the attack.
She said 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.’
‘What haunts me the most is the attack was meant for me,’ she added. ‘I was the target, petrol was poured on me and my life was meant to end that night.
‘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.’
Callum Sunderland, who drove Ali to the scene, was handed a life sentence with a minimum term of 18 years for manslaughter
The judge, Mr Justice Hilliard, said Ali’s plan was to ‘wipe out a family’ and the three children were ‘acceptable collateral damage’ for Ali because he was ‘so full of hatred for Bryonie’ who he blamed for the break-up.
Ali’s co-accused, Calum Sunderland, 27, was handed a life sentence with a minimum term of 18 years in prison for manslaughter.
He drove Ali to the property but claimed his friend, to whom he regularly sold drugs, said he was only going to burn a car.
Ali wanted to ‘inflict maximum pain’ with the horrifying fire and ‘did not care who was there’, the court was told.
Following the sentencing, Amanda McInnes, Senior Crown Prosecutor for CPS Yorkshire & Humberside, said: ‘This was a devastating case in which a violent man’s jealousy led to the most unimaginable consequences.
‘Sharaz Ali showed no regard for the lives he destroyed that night.
‘His former partner had made the courageous decision to leave an abusive relationship, and his response was to unleash a catastrophic act of revenge that killed four innocent people.
‘Calum Sunderland willingly played his part in this tragedy and it is right that he too is held responsible for the consequences of his actions.’
This is a breaking news story.
