Four guilty of bungled arson 'honour' attack

Abdullah Mohammed, 41, and his wife Ayesha, 39, were overcome by smoke and fumes after petrol was poured through their letterbox and set alight as they and two of their children were asleep in bed.

Their home was targeted because Hisamuddin Ibrahim, 21, wanted to punish a man who was having an affair with his married sister and ordered three men to cause a blaze at his terraced home in Blackburn, Lancashire.

But the arsonists, who drove from London to carry out the attack, targeted the wrong address with the blaze started at the home of the Mohammeds in 175 London Road , instead of the intended house at 135 London Road.

A jury at Preston Crown Court took just 90 minutes yesterday following a six-week trial to convict Ibrahim, Habib Iqbal, Sadek Miah and Mohammed Miah (no relation) of the murders.

They had heard how London Underground systems operator Ibrahim became enraged when he discovered his sister, Hafija Gorji, 22, was committing adultery with a man called Mo Ibrahim (no relation) she had met at a wedding in Manchester.

A month before the fire, Hafija's lover had been called before the family to explain and was told to swear on the Koran in front of her relatives that they were just good friends.

Then a week before the attack, Ibrahim viewed a story on the BBC Crimewatch website about an unsolved fatal blaze in Eastbourne, in which a home was targeted at night and the two occupants were killed.

On October 21 last year, Lancashire Fire and Rescue Service received a 999 call from Mr Mohammed at about 1.20am. He told the operator there was a fire at his home and he could not breathe. The line then went dead. The blaze ripped through the property as smoke engulfed the upstairs. Neighbours tried to smash their way in to reach the stricken family but were beaten back by the flames.

Mr Mohammed, a religious teacher and key member of his community, was later found unconscious in his bedroom along with his wife and two of their three children, their third being away at university.

He died the same night while his wife died a week later. Their 14-year-old daughter and nine-year-old son survived.

Preston Crown Court heard Ibrahim, on behalf of his family, asked his best friend Habib Iqbal and two other men, Mohammed Miah and Sadek Miah, to drive from London overnight and carry out the attack.

There were no witnesses to the start of the blaze but CCTV footage captured a vehicle circling the area three times shortly before the fire.

Three figures were seen to leave the car in the direction of London Road, one appearing to carry a container, before returning and then driving away with its lights off. The vehicle, a black Volkswagen Golf registered to Sadek Miah's mother, was driven back to London.

Ibrahim, 21, of Shelley Avenue, Manor Park, east London; Mohammed Miah, 19, of Pelly Road, Plaistow, east London; Sadek Miah, 23, of Byng Street, Tower Hamlets, east London and Iqbal, 25, of Strone Road, Manor Park, all denied murder.

At an earlier hearing, Sadek Miah pleaded guilty to an alternative charge of manslaughter, which his co-defendants all denied.

The jury was told the defendants had contradicted each other's accounts in their police interviews in an attempt to "water down" their involvement.

Sadek Miah said he drove the men up from London as a favour for Habib Iqbal, who needed to repay a loan to a man in Blackburn.

Mohammed Miah said he "went along for the ride" and was asleep for most of the seven-hour round trip.

Habib Iqbal backed up their account but changed his story when Hisamuddin Ibrahim denied his friend had gone to pay his debt, the court was told.

He said Mohammed Miah poured the petrol into the letterbox at London Road but "he must have poured in too much".

Hisamuddin Ibrahim told detectives he stayed at the home of another sister, Rizwani Gorji, in Blackburn on the night of the fire and received no visitors. He claimed he was unaware of his sister's affair with Mo Ibrahim until after the fire which he said he had no involvement in.

Outside court, the murdered couple's son, Ashraf, said: "The family believe other people were involved and hope that one day those people may be brought to justice."