Sister of mum and youngsters killed when jealous ex torched home ‘haunted’ by horror

Harrowing doorbell footage captured the moment Sharaz Ali and Calum Sunderland arrived at a house in a revenge attack, before a fire killed Bryonie Gawith and her three young children

A man who murdered his former partner’s sister and her three children when he set fire to their house has been jailed for life. Chilling doorbell footage captured the moment drug-fuelled Sharaz Ali, 40, was “motivated by jealousy and fuelled by drink and drugs” when he started the “catastrophic” blaze at the home of Bryonie Gawith and her three young children in the early hours of August 21 last year.

Harrowing Ring doorbell footage captured the moment Ali told Calum Sunderland, 26 to “kick it in” before dousing the property in petrol. Doncaster Crown Court heard the 40-year-old went to “take revenge” on his former partner, Bryonie’s sister Antonia Gawith, who was staying there 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.

“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.”

Footage released by West Yorkshire Police shows the pair arriving at the property where Ali tells Sunderland “kick it in, kick it in.” Glass can be heard smashing. Not long afterwards, the children started screaming. The sound was muted to spare the jury having to listen to their cries.

Earlier CCTV footage shows the pair at a petrol station where Sunderland can be seen filling up a 7L petrol can. The court heard that Ali wanted to “inflict maximum pain.”

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.

Reliving the fateful night, 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.

When 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.

The court heard the first police officers on the scene managed to break the door down and pull Ali from the blaze, but when firefighters arrived it was too late to save Bryonie, who was found on the floor next to her bed, and the three children, who were all found in their beds.

Ali told the trial he wanted to kill himself in front of Antonia, and only intended to set himself alight. Sunderland said Ali had recruited him to torch a car, and that he did not know there was anyone in the house.

In a statement issued after Bryonie’s death, her family said the loss of “our B” and the children, referred to as “Chuch, Oggy and Strawberry”, had brought “unimaginable sadness and grief”.

The tribute read: “Our B was the life and soul of the party, music was a big part of her life, she loved music, singing and dancing, she would always be singing and dancing with Chuch (Denisty), Oggy (Oscar) and Strawberry (Aubree).

“B was always a really happy, joyful, bubbly beautiful woman, who cared for everyone and was loved by everyone, her kids were everything to her, her whole life.

“Oggy had the cheekiest smile, he was cheeky but he was a shy boy, Strawbs was shy and bashful with big blue eyes and blonde hair and Chuch was a beautiful, confident, outgoing and creative young girl.”

After they returned their verdicts, Mr Justice Hilliard thanked jurors and said the case had been “distressing beyond measure – three children and their mother murdered”.