Two men have appeared in court charged with murder and attempted murder after a house fire in Bradford killed a mother and her three children.
Bryonie Gawith, 29, Denisty Birtle, nine, Oscar Birtle, five, and 22-month-old Aubree Birtle died after a fire at their home in Bradford in the early hours of 21 August.
Mohammed Shabir, 44, and Calum Sunderland, 25, both from Keighley, appeared at Bradford Magistrates’ Court on Wednesday.
The pair are accused of murdering Ms Gawith and her three children and attempting to murder Antonia Gawith.
During the brief hearing, they only spoke to confirm their names, dates of birth, and addresses and were not asked to indicate any pleas to the charges.
Flanked by two dock officers, Sunderland wore a grey sweatshirt and tracksuit bottoms, and Shabir wore a black zipped top.
Both defendants were remanded into custody until their next hearing at Bradford Crown Court, on Thursday.
Police said Shabir was arrested when he attended a police station after 10am on Monday, and Sunderland was arrested earlier on the same day, following police inquiries in Keighley.
Four other people remain under investigation – including a 39-year-old man, arrested at the scene on suspicion of murder, who emains in hospital in a critical condition, West Yorkshire Police has said.
Ms Gawith died at the scene and the three children died from their injuries in hospital.
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In a statement issued last week, the family of the victims said: “Our B (Ms Gawith) 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.
“We are still trying to comprehend what has happened to our beautiful family.
“No words can describe how we are feeling and no words could ever make up for the profound loss we are now faced with.”
Source Agencies
