Sharaz Ali, 40, of no fixed abode, was given a whole life order for murdering Bryonie Gawith, 29, and her three young children and attempting to murder his ex-partner Antonia Gawith at Doncaster Crown Court on Friday.
He received a full life sentence with a minimum term of 37 years to run concurrently for the attempted murder offence.
Ali set about on a murderous plot to enact revenge on Antonia, who had left him after a seven-year relationship dominated by domestic abuse and extensive alcohol and drug use by Ali, by inflicting “maximum pain” on her.
Sharaz Ali (Image: West Yorkshire Police)
He recruited crack-cocaine addict, Calum Sunderland, who would do anything to fuel his habit, to torch Bryonie’s house in Westbury Road, Bradford, in the early hours of August 21, 2024, where Antonia was staying.
While Antonia managed to escape the fire, Bryonie and her three children – Denisty Birtle, nine, Oscar Birtle, five, and Aubree Birtle, 22 months – were trapped upstairs and could not be saved.
Sunderland, 27, of Carlton Street, Keighley was jailed for life with a minimum term of 16 years and 175 days for manslaughter, which accounts for the time he has spent on remand.
SENTENCING LIVE: RECAP: Man who murdered mum and three young children in fire sentenced
The 27-year-old carried a canister filled with seven litres of petrol to the front door, which he also kicked in on Ali’s instruction, and “knew the house was occupied” and agreed to an “extraordinarily dangerous” scheme, according to The Honourable Justice Mr Nicholas Hilliard KC.
He said: “He played with fire and four people died as a result.”
The judge 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”.
Family picture of Bryonie Gawith (left) and her children Denisty Birtle, nine (middle-right), Oscar Birtle, five (right), and Aubree Birtle, 22 months’ old (middle-left) (Image: West Yorkshire Police)
Antonia had tried to end the relationship on multiple occasions but while away on holiday with her sister and family just before the fatal fire she closed it off for good, saying Bryonie had given the “confidence and support” to leave her violent and controlling relationship, the trial heard last December.
Ali blamed Bryonie for the break-up and determined that, if could not be with Antonia, no-one else could.
The judge spoke to the Gawith family directly and hopes they remember the bravery shown by Bryonie and Antonia in horrific and tragic circumstances.
He said that Ali remained inside when Antonia tried to draw him out of the house by running into the street after he had poured petrol all over the entrance landing and Antonia.
Ali stayed because he was on the hunt for an imagined man who he incorrectly thought was there, according to the judge.
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Bryonie had got to the top of the stairs and “was not going to let him get upstairs” as her kids were there, so she kicked Ali down, the court heard.
The judge said, although Bryonie knew the danger, she stayed upstairs to protect them rather than running away to safety as “there was no way she was going to run out of the house and desert her children”.
He added: “Bryonie acted with immense courage, I hope that will be how her family remember her last moments.
“She was determined to protect her children if she could, that completely dominated her thoughts. She begged Ali to stop but he ignored her.”
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 the 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.”
Floral tributes in Westbury Road (Image: PA)
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”.
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 per cent 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.
The judge said his injuries were considered in sentencing, but that they would be difficult to handle outside of prison as well.
He added: “He is the sole author of his own predicament.”
Calum Sunderland (Image: West Yorkshire Police)
Nicholas Worsley KC, representing Sunderland, said he had initially believed he was going to torch a car and that the house was empty.
But the judge determined that Ali had rung Sunderland to recruit him and when he went to pick him up in Keighley, driven by Mohammed Shabir, who was due to stand trial alongside the two men but died in custody, a conversation of some minutes occurred between the defendants.
The judge said: “I am sure that Ali was relaying the plan to set fire to the house at some point during that.”