:00:18. > :00:24.guilty verdicts for eight mdn accused of the guilt `` fat`l arson
:00:25. > :00:31.attack. A mother and three children died in the blaze after a g`ng
:00:32. > :00:35.seeking revenge set on fire the wrong house. The people inshde had
:00:36. > :00:40.nothing to do with the murddr the previous evening.
:00:41. > :00:47.The attack Rob Doctor Muhamlad Taufiq of his wife and thred
:00:48. > :00:50.children. My wife and three beautiful children, I can s`y they
:00:51. > :00:56.were really extraordinary pdople. They were very charitable. They had
:00:57. > :01:04.a strong concern for the welfare of others. The botched attack was in
:01:05. > :01:09.the revenge for the earliest stabbing of Antoin Akpom. Wd will
:01:10. > :01:15.examine how the police crackdown text and difficult case. `` cracked
:01:16. > :01:18.a complex and difficult casd. Eight men have been convictdd
:01:19. > :01:21.of killing an innocent family after setting fire to their home
:01:22. > :01:24.in a botched revenge attack. A mum and her three teenage
:01:25. > :01:28.children all died in the bl`ze. Their house was targeted by mistake
:01:29. > :01:31.by a gang intent on avenging the Tonight a jury found two men guilty
:01:32. > :01:39.of murder and six of manslatghter. The jury at Nottingham Crown Court
:01:40. > :01:42.has heard weeks of evidence. How a gang of men were involved
:01:43. > :01:45.in the firebombing of the family home of
:01:46. > :01:48.a man they believed to be involved The blaze claimed the lives
:01:49. > :01:57.of a well liked devout Muslhm family mum Shehnila Taufiq,
:01:58. > :02:00.her daughter and two sons. It's left a husband
:02:01. > :02:04.and father all alone in the world. Today Dr Mohammed Taufiq was
:02:05. > :02:07.in court to see A dignified man who spoke afterwards
:02:08. > :02:24.to say justice had been dond. My beloved wife and three bdautiful
:02:25. > :02:30.children, I can say they were really extraordinary people. They were very
:02:31. > :02:36.charitable. They had a strong concern for the welfare of others.
:02:37. > :02:43.Even before their own comfort. They have devoted their lives to dream to
:02:44. > :02:47.give to others, the needy, the less privileged, and the misguiddd. For
:02:48. > :02:50.amazing human beings. The verdicts today brought
:02:51. > :02:53.an end to the search for justice for an innocent family caught up
:02:54. > :02:55.in what was described The terrible sequence
:02:56. > :02:59.of events started not far from here at Kent Street in Leicester, in
:03:00. > :03:02.the early evening of September 2th last year, with the fatal stabbing
:03:03. > :03:07.of 20 year old father Antoin Akpom. It ended seven hours later here
:03:08. > :03:12.at Wood Hill with the deaths of an innocent family
:03:13. > :03:14.as they slept in their beds. This helicopter footage shows just
:03:15. > :03:19.how close the two incidents were. The case has lasted many wedks
:03:20. > :03:23.at Nottingham Crown Court, Sarah Here's her report on how those
:03:24. > :03:46.terrible and tragic events tnfolded. The situation that arose was
:03:47. > :03:52.something that Leicester had never woken up to. Flames everywhdre,
:03:53. > :03:57.people were trying to break the windows, get them out. It w`s a fire
:03:58. > :04:07.that was very fierce, and fortunately, `` unfortunately, no
:04:08. > :04:10.one could be saved. In this space of seven hours five people killed in
:04:11. > :04:14.this multicultural communitx in Leicester. It started with the fatal
:04:15. > :04:21.stabbing of football coach @ntoine act upon, and ended with thd deaths
:04:22. > :04:24.of an innocent family of fotr in a devastating arson attack. Vdry close
:04:25. > :04:27.to here, a young man was fatally attacked in the street. Polhce say
:04:28. > :04:34.there may be connections between the murders. Two families have been
:04:35. > :04:39.absolutely devastated. Whold communities have been robbed by the
:04:40. > :04:44.two events. Doctor Muhammad Taufiq was in Dublin, where he worked as a
:04:45. > :04:51.neurosurgeon at the time. L`te that night, he had phoned, speakhng to
:04:52. > :04:58.each member of his family. He placed `` blessed good night his whfe,
:04:59. > :05:09.daughter and Sons. Just an hour later, they were dead. We wdre five
:05:10. > :05:12.in total. And now I am left alone. I can only begin to try and ilagine
:05:13. > :05:16.what it must be like to losd all your family in one night. Hd got
:05:17. > :05:22.home that Friday morning to find out that his family had been killed And
:05:23. > :05:28.it is just incompressible how you would actually begin to deal with
:05:29. > :05:31.that. As the community came together to mourn with Doctor Taufiq, police
:05:32. > :05:35.are already closing in on the tellers.
:05:36. > :05:38.Detectives in Leicester havd made another arrest into their
:05:39. > :05:42.investigation into the fire which killed four people. We very quickly
:05:43. > :05:45.moved into a position where the arrested people, they were
:05:46. > :05:50.interviewed by detectives and within a matter of days, charges wdre
:05:51. > :05:53.brought. With the help of phone records and hours CCTV, thex were
:05:54. > :05:57.building up a dossier of evhdence which placed eight of the g`ng
:05:58. > :06:05.together at the time of the fire. All friends of Antoin Akpom, fuelled
:06:06. > :06:11.with anger and thoughts of revenge at his death. This is their intended
:06:12. > :06:16.target, number 52, family home of one of the men they believed to be
:06:17. > :06:22.involved in the stabbing. Instead, they targeted number 56 werd inside,
:06:23. > :06:28.asleep and unaware of the d`nger, was Shehnila Taufiq and has three
:06:29. > :06:35.children. It was so unfortunate that the situation had risen out of
:06:36. > :06:42.something that had nothing to do with the family. The gang of eight
:06:43. > :06:48.were picked up on CCTV camera arriving on Wood Hill at about half
:06:49. > :06:53.past midnight. The cars, he`dlights off, silently cruised past the
:06:54. > :06:58.house. They parked and all walked back up the hill. Petrol was poured
:06:59. > :07:03.over the front door and ignhted As a fireball engulfed the house, the
:07:04. > :07:07.gang fled. Moments later, ndighbours poured out onto the streets,
:07:08. > :07:13.screaming and shouting. Desperate to raise the allowed. Just ran out
:07:14. > :07:19.straight for the door. Started shouting for the kids. I was going
:07:20. > :07:26.to the door but the door dods not in front of me. Was there just nothing?
:07:27. > :07:31.Just flames everywhere, I jtst saw the door melt in front of us. I was
:07:32. > :07:38.just crying, I decided to sde the children and get them out of there.
:07:39. > :07:41.That is the awful thing. Thd jury rejected claims from 22`year`old
:07:42. > :07:47.Tristan Richards, a convictdd drug dealer, that he was not even there.
:07:48. > :07:51.In fact, he poured petrol. They unanimously found him guiltx of four
:07:52. > :07:58.counts of murder. Along with 19`year`old Kemo Porter, whose DNA
:07:59. > :08:00.was found on a lighter. Thex returned unanimous verdict of
:08:01. > :08:08.manslaughter against 24`year`old Shaun Carter. Porter and Carter were
:08:09. > :08:14.captured on CCTV casually btying a takeaway chicken burger a short
:08:15. > :08:19.while after the fire broke out. Also found guilty of manslaughter by
:08:20. > :08:24.majority verdict, 19 Nathanhel Mullings, 20`year`old Jackson Powell
:08:25. > :08:30.and Aaron Webb, 21`year`old Akeem Jeffers and 17`year`old Cairo
:08:31. > :08:37.Parker. CCTV shows four of the men wandering through Leicester after
:08:38. > :08:40.fleeing the scene of the bl`ze. Nathaniel Mullings, later c`ught on
:08:41. > :08:45.camera disposing of the petrol can from his boot. During the course of
:08:46. > :08:49.this investigation, the men all claimed their innocence. Ch`nging
:08:50. > :08:53.their stories, lying to protect themselves. Tonight they face
:08:54. > :08:56.lengthy prison sentences for taking four innocent lives in their mistake
:08:57. > :09:02.in pursuit for vengeance. Well, as we've heard
:09:03. > :09:04.the only surviving member of At the time of the fire he was
:09:05. > :09:08.in Dublin where he works, during the week, as a consultant
:09:09. > :09:11.paediatric neurosurgeon. He has described how he now
:09:12. > :09:14.feels all alone in the world. But he's vowed to continue
:09:15. > :09:16.his charity work Dr Taufiq and
:09:17. > :09:29.his family had planned on spending They had spent their life s`vings
:09:30. > :09:35.on a building which they wanted to turn into an Islamic communhty
:09:36. > :09:39.centre, and religious school. Dr Taufiq had planned
:09:40. > :09:45.on his wife and children johning him here after they had finished
:09:46. > :09:48.their studies in Leicester. Instead, he brought them back
:09:49. > :09:54.to Dublin to be buried. You can say now,
:09:55. > :10:03.I am a bird without any wings. Shehnila, Zainab,
:10:04. > :10:07.Bilal and Jamal had lived She knocked on my door,
:10:08. > :10:15.like an angel. And it's like,
:10:16. > :10:19.we just got on from there. She was not a neighbour,
:10:20. > :10:22.she was like my family. There is not a day that goes
:10:23. > :10:27.when we don't think of them, The neighbouring terraced homes were
:10:28. > :10:34.also badly damaged in the fhre. We had no choice
:10:35. > :10:38.but to move back home. I had the hall window coverdd,
:10:39. > :10:45.with a black material. It took me over two months to take
:10:46. > :10:49.that material off the window. Devout Muslims,
:10:50. > :10:50.the Taufiqs dedicated Therefore there are no photos of
:10:51. > :10:56.the female members of the f`mily. They were popular within
:10:57. > :11:02.this close`knit community. The kids used to talk about local
:11:03. > :11:09.sports things, this and that. Bilal was the quiet one,
:11:10. > :11:18.we always said. Zainab was my princess, she loved
:11:19. > :11:24.to learn things, loved cookhng. He always had a big smile
:11:25. > :11:30.on his face. Dr Taufiq's strength since losing
:11:31. > :11:40.his family has been deeply `dmired. At no point did he talk
:11:41. > :11:44.about problems in relation to what He has talked about,
:11:45. > :11:50.he has simply wanted to put And I think he drew
:11:51. > :11:56.his strength from his relighon. He was deeply rooted within
:11:57. > :11:58.the faith in itself. I think that's what helped him
:11:59. > :12:03.through troubled times. Dr Taufiq says it is his fahth
:12:04. > :12:07.which has given him the strdngth to His family laid to rest herd
:12:08. > :12:15.on the outskirts of the citx. Dr Taufiq says he won't let
:12:16. > :12:19.their dreams die with them. His life now dedicated to ftlfilling
:12:20. > :12:23.the vision they had I will continue and devote
:12:24. > :12:30.my life for the community work, so My belief, they are waiting
:12:31. > :12:40.for me in Paradise. The deaths of the Taufiqs bdgan
:12:41. > :12:44.of course with another killhng. That of Antoin Akpom just
:12:45. > :12:48.a mile from here in Kent Street His killer has been
:12:49. > :12:51.brought to justice. The subsequent revenge killhngs
:12:52. > :12:58.of four entirely innocent pdople has caused even more heartbreak
:12:59. > :13:15.for Antoin's mum. Five lives were lost by what
:13:16. > :13:19.happened here on Kent Street. Gang rivalry and revenge combining with
:13:20. > :13:25.deadly consequences. Antoin Akpom died from a single stab wound from a
:13:26. > :13:29.12 inch kitchen knife after two confrontations with two teenagers in
:13:30. > :13:32.the space of a minute. The 20`year`old left behind a fhancee, a
:13:33. > :13:38.family and fatherhood. The trial judge said despite his failtres
:13:39. > :13:42.there was a good, positive side to Antoin Akpom, and his murder was the
:13:43. > :13:45.result of gang`related stredt violence. His family insist he was
:13:46. > :13:53.never part of a gang and wotld not have condoned revenge. He would not
:13:54. > :14:00.have wanted that. He would not have wanted that, that somebody dlse
:14:01. > :14:08.innocent people should be khlled. I can feel from my son, and only God
:14:09. > :14:13.knows how Mr Taufiq is feelhng, he has lost his whole family. Ly heart
:14:14. > :14:17.goes out for him, I'd find ht difficult to cope, and I don't know
:14:18. > :14:22.how. He must be really strong in God to be able to cope with this because
:14:23. > :14:26.I do not know what I would have done if that was me. It goes back to the
:14:27. > :14:31.beginning, the devastation that this one stabbing has caused. Only people
:14:32. > :14:35.have lost their lives? It h`s turned the whole city, into turmoil from
:14:36. > :14:41.that one action, it had a rhpple effect of consequences. There are no
:14:42. > :14:55.words, really. There should never have been a revenge? Not like that,
:14:56. > :14:59.no. No. No. Not like that. Not to go and burn down someone's homd, when
:15:00. > :15:03.you don't know who's in it. No. As we've heard
:15:04. > :15:06.the men who set fire to the Taufiq's But what more do we know
:15:07. > :15:22.about them and why they went to such In a world away from the Crown Court
:15:23. > :15:27.in Nottingham, for three of the men, this is where their friendship
:15:28. > :15:31.started. At the Lancaster School in Leicester. Over the following years,
:15:32. > :15:35.and through a love of music and football, all eight of them became
:15:36. > :15:38.friends. Over the past few weeks, I have spent time with people who know
:15:39. > :15:43.the men and they have given me an insight as to what happened on that
:15:44. > :15:49.tragic night. The only thing that would have gone through thehr head,
:15:50. > :15:53.and this is hindsight, we nded to get revenge. We have lost one of our
:15:54. > :16:01.own, we need to shave his individual who committed this crime th`t we are
:16:02. > :16:05.serious. This man let them through football, helps coach them. He says
:16:06. > :16:11.there were disbelief when they were arrested. It was a big shock in the
:16:12. > :16:15.community as to that it was these boys that were arrested for this
:16:16. > :16:20.offence. Because these were, these were not known Street boys. Within
:16:21. > :16:24.the gang, there was one person who stood out. Tristan Richards. Named
:16:25. > :16:30.by the others as the ringle`der The man who on the front door. What kind
:16:31. > :16:39.of character is him? Would xou be there not to cross him? Defhnitely,
:16:40. > :16:44.you would not cross him. Solebody to be scared, respected becausd of the
:16:45. > :16:47.lifestyle he led. He was a doer one of these people, if you want
:16:48. > :16:54.something doing, you would go to him. And it would be done. @nd he
:16:55. > :17:02.was known for that? He was, yes I think on that night, there was an
:17:03. > :17:06.order given for an act to bd carried out. And the eight individu`ls
:17:07. > :17:13.carried out that action. Unfortunately, the person that
:17:14. > :17:19.delivered the orders probably will never end up in court. So, what
:17:20. > :17:23.about the impact of a community In the hours after that horrifhc night,
:17:24. > :17:30.it was Doctor Taufiq who, h`ving lost his family, brought calm. The
:17:31. > :17:34.Taufiq family is a family that has taught us that at times likd this,
:17:35. > :17:38.you can still stand together and we can forgive each other. It hs the
:17:39. > :17:42.forgiveness part of it which is most important for us and I think we need
:17:43. > :17:46.to take that to heart. I fedl a bit responsible as to that youth is that
:17:47. > :17:53.we were mentoring and guiding ended up like this. The flames in Wood
:17:54. > :17:59.Hill, the blood on Kent Strdet, the funeral at Benny Hill Park, those
:18:00. > :18:07.things never go away. `` Sphnney Hill. We can always pray and hope
:18:08. > :18:15.that we can learn from it, rise from the ashes and turn this awftl
:18:16. > :18:19.situation into something re`lly positive so it never happens again
:18:20. > :18:23.to anybody. We can learn th`t revenge is not sweet, it's better.
:18:24. > :18:25.This was a difficult case to bring to court.
:18:26. > :18:27.Police were met with a wall of silence.
:18:28. > :18:29.The defendants constantly changed their stories.
:18:30. > :18:33.Men each blaming the other for being involved.
:18:34. > :18:35.The jury had to be told about the legal definition
:18:36. > :18:39.That's where every member of a group is guilty
:18:40. > :18:45.of a crime regardless of who poured the petrol or lit the blaze.
:18:46. > :18:49.So how did the police investigate such a complex case
:18:50. > :19:07.The trappings of a modern world tracked the killers. It was CCTV,
:19:08. > :19:13.smartphone data and an insurance tracker device which gave
:19:14. > :19:18.indisputable proof that the men were all together at Wood Hill. The main
:19:19. > :19:22.part of the investigation w`s looking at the movement and event of
:19:23. > :19:27.the evening, so what we know happened and pairing up with the
:19:28. > :19:32.vehicles involved. In order to do that, we had to use different
:19:33. > :19:38.technology to use and establish where each individual was at each
:19:39. > :19:41.time. The police are increasingly relying on technology where once
:19:42. > :19:46.upon a time it was eyewitness testimony, but now we can avail
:19:47. > :19:50.ourselves of technology with mobile phone, CCTV, Internet and e`mails.
:19:51. > :20:00.It took hundreds of hours of police work together the information. There
:20:01. > :20:05.was a lot of CCTV viewed, hours of it which had to be viewed ntmerous
:20:06. > :20:08.times to make sure we did not miss anything. Mobile phone records, we
:20:09. > :20:11.went through different records and that takes a number of hours to
:20:12. > :20:17.establish what people have been doing. To try and understand their
:20:18. > :20:21.movements on the night. It forms a big part of the enquiry, it took a
:20:22. > :20:24.number of hours to do but I am confident we have done everxthing
:20:25. > :20:29.which has been able to put the evidence to the court. Therd is a
:20:30. > :20:35.massive cost in terms of labour and police staff interrogating this
:20:36. > :20:40.evidence, but also a commercial cost, police have to make
:20:41. > :20:47.application to get the data and buy it from mobile phone companhes and
:20:48. > :20:51.the like. Keeping up with advances in technology will be critical in
:20:52. > :20:56.future investigations. As things progress, the use different sorts of
:20:57. > :21:00.techniques, and as defendants use different sorts of techniquds to
:21:01. > :21:03.commit offences, the police and prosecuting authorities havd to stay
:21:04. > :21:06.ahead of that and also use the same techniques in bringing offenders to
:21:07. > :21:16.justice. And try and keep ahead of that.
:21:17. > :21:23.Let's talk to the local MP here Keith Vaz, who joins us frol our
:21:24. > :21:29.London studio. Your reaction to the verdict today? Justice has been
:21:30. > :21:32.done. The community is still in shock. The community will always
:21:33. > :21:39.remember, local people will always remember those tragic few d`ys which
:21:40. > :21:48.thought the lives of so manx innocent people being taken, five
:21:49. > :21:58.innocent deaths. Of local pdople, the death of Antoin Akpom, Shehnila
:21:59. > :22:02.Taufiq, Bilal, Jamal and Zahnab No matter what the verdict is, they
:22:03. > :22:06.will never be brought back, because of the way that people have used
:22:07. > :22:11.revenge as their method of trying to avenge the death of their friends. I
:22:12. > :22:15.think at the moment, what wd want to do is stay united as a city and the
:22:16. > :22:22.different communities that have come together, because of the words of
:22:23. > :22:30.Doctor Taufiq and indeed of Antoin Akpom's mothers. These two families
:22:31. > :22:33.in their own way facing enormous tragedy have ensured that the
:22:34. > :22:38.justice system, the criminal justice system has been allowed to take its
:22:39. > :22:45.proper course. Would you agree that the community behaved admir`bly And
:22:46. > :22:49.that was key to all of this? First, I think the police deserve `ll our
:22:50. > :22:53.thanks for the way in which they have dealt with this. Leicestershire
:22:54. > :22:58.police have behaved in the lost professional and wonderful way, and
:22:59. > :23:05.I think that they deserve otr thanks and our credit. So, too, do local
:23:06. > :23:09.community leaders, the families and indeed neighbours. This could have
:23:10. > :23:14.easily split neighbour from neighbour. Actually, what local
:23:15. > :23:23.people sought was the need to come together. Criminal justice system
:23:24. > :23:31.has delivered for us today, not just for the families, of those that are
:23:32. > :23:37.left, in the Taufiq family... I m terribly sorry, we must leave it
:23:38. > :23:39.there. I think it is import`nt, not to forget but to move on. Wd will
:23:40. > :23:52.never forget, those... I am sorry we had to cut off Keith
:23:53. > :23:57.Vaz, little short of time. We will now go back to the studio.
:23:58. > :24:00.A woman has spoken of the shocking moment when the police told her that
:24:01. > :24:03.the remains of a murdered couple had been found buried
:24:04. > :24:06.The victims had been there for 15 years.
:24:07. > :24:09.But now Sue Bramley says shd has no intention of moving.
:24:10. > :24:14.Mike O'Sullivan has this exclusive report.
:24:15. > :24:21.Sue Bramley showed me the b`ck garden of her rented home in Forest
:24:22. > :24:28.town in Mansfield. By the fdnce she has planted a miniature red Rose
:24:29. > :24:31.Bridge, Bush `` Bridge, in lemory of the couple whose remains were
:24:32. > :24:36.discovered in October. Added you feel when the police told you there
:24:37. > :24:40.were human remains here? Absolutely devastated, went to pieces. Came
:24:41. > :24:44.home and then all these people started to arrive in the whhte suit
:24:45. > :24:48.and I was so emotional. Knowing I had lived here all this timd, and I
:24:49. > :24:54.was sat on two bodies in thd garden. Today at Nottingham Crown Court the
:24:55. > :25:02.couple's daughter Susan Edw`rds and her husband Christopher was
:25:03. > :25:08.sentenced to life with a maximum `` minimum of 20 years for murder. They
:25:09. > :25:11.shot them in 1998 and buried the bodies, then convincing fridnds and
:25:12. > :25:17.neighbours that the couple were still alive. They stole ?224,00
:25:18. > :25:26.from the capital. Christophdr Edwards still came back to check the
:25:27. > :25:33.garden. Shocked, to know I wrote here, and he was looking into the
:25:34. > :25:38.garden. Sue Bramley has no hntention of moving out, she says she has had
:25:39. > :25:39.birthday parties for the datghter, now a teenager, in her garddn, and
:25:40. > :25:42.this is now their home. A hospital chaplain who bec`me the
:25:43. > :25:45.first clergyman in Britain to have a gay marriage, is no longer `llowed
:25:46. > :25:48.to lead services in Nottinghamshire. Canon Jeremy Pemberton's licence
:25:49. > :25:50.has been revoked, though he In April this year he marridd,
:25:51. > :25:54.in defiance of guidance by Church They ruled marrying someone
:25:55. > :26:16.of the same sex was at vari`nce with We will see a few changes over the
:26:17. > :26:21.next few days. We have had lots of war today, temperatures up to 2
:26:22. > :26:25.degrees, that has triggered a few showers. `` we have had lots of
:26:26. > :26:28.forms today. We have had a weather front pushing in, we will h`ve
:26:29. > :26:33.ploughed, and a few light showers, much lighter than today. Sthll a few
:26:34. > :26:37.rumbles of thunder which will continue over the next few hours,
:26:38. > :26:41.but they will fade away through the night. So we will be dry through the
:26:42. > :26:46.night and cloud will break out. Misty and murky first thing tomorrow
:26:47. > :26:50.morning with temperatures at around 13 or 14 degrees. Another w`rm and
:26:51. > :26:54.muggy night. Tomorrow morning we should start off with some sunshine,
:26:55. > :27:00.so some warmth and sunshine through the morning hours. As the, we will
:27:01. > :27:03.start to see cloud increasing and a few of these light showers kicking
:27:04. > :27:06.off later off later off in the day. As a result of less sunshind
:27:07. > :27:12.tomorrow, it will be a bit cooler with temperatures 19 or 20 degrees.
:27:13. > :27:22.Let's now returned to Wood Hill Thank you very much. This, the day
:27:23. > :27:26.when eight men were convictdd for their part in the watched rdvenge
:27:27. > :27:31.attack on the house which you can see behind us, boarded up, ` house
:27:32. > :27:35.in which a mother and her three teenaged children died. You may have
:27:36. > :27:40.heard the local MP paying tribute to the way the community responded and
:27:41. > :27:45.the police investigation, and now Leicester can perhaps enter this
:27:46. > :27:47.tragic chapter in its history. `` end this tragic chapter.