Bradford: Coma man charged with murdering family in house fire given trial date

Bryonie Gawith, 29; Denisty Birtle, nine; Oscar Birtle, five; and 22-month-old Aubree Birtle died after the blaze at their home in Westbury Road, Bradford, in the early hours of August 21 last year.

Mohammed Shabir, 44, of Alice Street; and Calum Sunderland, 25, of Calton Street, both Keighley; were due to go on trial last week after pleading not guilty to murdering Ms Gawith and the three children, and attempting to murder Ms Gawith's sister, Antonia Gawith .

The day before their trial was due to start, West Yorkshire Police confirmed that Sharaz Ali , 39, of no fixed address, had also been charged with four counts of murder and one count of attempted murder.

Previous court hearings were told that Ali was "in a coma" and would not be ready for trial "even if he does wake up".

Last week, Bradford Crown Court heard that Ali had made a "marked improvement" since the start of the year and may be fit to stand trial within six to nine months.

On Monday, Mr Justice Hilliard set a trial date of November 17 , and ruled that all three defendants would be tried together.

Ali appeared at court via video-link from his hospital bed, with a police officer sitting next to him.

The court heard he is next due to appear for a plea hearing at the same court on April 2 .