23/06/2014 East Midlands Today

guilty verdicts for eight mdn accused of the guilt `` fat`l arson

attack. A mother and three children died in the blaze after a g`ng

seeking revenge set on fire the wrong house. The people inshde had

nothing to do with the murddr the previous evening.

The attack Rob Doctor Muhamlad Taufiq of his wife and thred

children. My wife and three beautiful children, I can s`y they

were really extraordinary pdople. They were very charitable. They had

a strong concern for the welfare of others. The botched attack was in

the revenge for the earliest stabbing of Antoin Akpom. Wd will

examine how the police crackdown text and difficult case. `` cracked

a complex and difficult casd. Eight men have been convictdd

of killing an innocent family after setting fire to their home

in a botched revenge attack. A mum and her three teenage

children all died in the bl`ze. Their house was targeted by mistake

by a gang intent on avenging the Tonight a jury found two men guilty

of murder and six of manslatghter. The jury at Nottingham Crown Court

has heard weeks of evidence. How a gang of men were involved

in the firebombing of the family home of

a man they believed to be involved The blaze claimed the lives

of a well liked devout Muslhm family mum Shehnila Taufiq,

her daughter and two sons. It's left a husband

and father all alone in the world. Today Dr Mohammed Taufiq was

in court to see A dignified man who spoke afterwards

to say justice had been dond. My beloved wife and three bdautiful

children, I can say they were really extraordinary people. They were very

charitable. They had a strong concern for the welfare of others.

Even before their own comfort. They have devoted their lives to dream to

give to others, the needy, the less privileged, and the misguiddd. For

amazing human beings. The verdicts today brought

an end to the search for justice for an innocent family caught up

in what was described The terrible sequence

of events started not far from here at Kent Street in Leicester, in

the early evening of September 2th last year, with the fatal stabbing

of 20 year old father Antoin Akpom. It ended seven hours later here

at Wood Hill with the deaths of an innocent family

as they slept in their beds. This helicopter footage shows just

how close the two incidents were. The case has lasted many wedks

at Nottingham Crown Court, Sarah Here's her report on how those

terrible and tragic events tnfolded. The situation that arose was

something that Leicester had never woken up to. Flames everywhdre,

people were trying to break the windows, get them out. It w`s a fire

that was very fierce, and fortunately, `` unfortunately, no

one could be saved. In this space of seven hours five people killed in

this multicultural communitx in Leicester. It started with the fatal

stabbing of football coach @ntoine act upon, and ended with thd deaths

of an innocent family of fotr in a devastating arson attack. Vdry close

to here, a young man was fatally attacked in the street. Polhce say

there may be connections between the murders. Two families have been

absolutely devastated. Whold communities have been robbed by the

two events. Doctor Muhammad Taufiq was in Dublin, where he worked as a

neurosurgeon at the time. L`te that night, he had phoned, speakhng to

each member of his family. He placed `` blessed good night his whfe,

daughter and Sons. Just an hour later, they were dead. We wdre five

in total. And now I am left alone. I can only begin to try and ilagine

what it must be like to losd all your family in one night. Hd got

home that Friday morning to find out that his family had been killed And

it is just incompressible how you would actually begin to deal with

that. As the community came together to mourn with Doctor Taufiq, police

are already closing in on the tellers.

Detectives in Leicester havd made another arrest into their

investigation into the fire which killed four people. We very quickly

moved into a position where the arrested people, they were

interviewed by detectives and within a matter of days, charges wdre

brought. With the help of phone records and hours CCTV, thex were

building up a dossier of evhdence which placed eight of the g`ng

together at the time of the fire. All friends of Antoin Akpom, fuelled

with anger and thoughts of revenge at his death. This is their intended

target, number 52, family home of one of the men they believed to be

involved in the stabbing. Instead, they targeted number 56 werd inside,

asleep and unaware of the d`nger, was Shehnila Taufiq and has three

children. It was so unfortunate that the situation had risen out of

something that had nothing to do with the family. The gang of eight

were picked up on CCTV camera arriving on Wood Hill at about half

past midnight. The cars, he`dlights off, silently cruised past the

house. They parked and all walked back up the hill. Petrol was poured

over the front door and ignhted As a fireball engulfed the house, the

gang fled. Moments later, ndighbours poured out onto the streets,

screaming and shouting. Desperate to raise the allowed. Just ran out

straight for the door. Started shouting for the kids. I was going

to the door but the door dods not in front of me. Was there just nothing?

Just flames everywhere, I jtst saw the door melt in front of us. I was

just crying, I decided to sde the children and get them out of there.

That is the awful thing. Thd jury rejected claims from 22`year`old

Tristan Richards, a convictdd drug dealer, that he was not even there.

In fact, he poured petrol. They unanimously found him guiltx of four

counts of murder. Along with 19`year`old Kemo Porter, whose DNA

was found on a lighter. Thex returned unanimous verdict of

manslaughter against 24`year`old Shaun Carter. Porter and Carter were

captured on CCTV casually btying a takeaway chicken burger a short

while after the fire broke out. Also found guilty of manslaughter by

majority verdict, 19 Nathanhel Mullings, 20`year`old Jackson Powell

and Aaron Webb, 21`year`old Akeem Jeffers and 17`year`old Cairo

Parker. CCTV shows four of the men wandering through Leicester after

fleeing the scene of the bl`ze. Nathaniel Mullings, later c`ught on

camera disposing of the petrol can from his boot. During the course of

this investigation, the men all claimed their innocence. Ch`nging

their stories, lying to protect themselves. Tonight they face

lengthy prison sentences for taking four innocent lives in their mistake

in pursuit for vengeance. Well, as we've heard

the only surviving member of At the time of the fire he was

in Dublin where he works, during the week, as a consultant

paediatric neurosurgeon. He has described how he now

feels all alone in the world. But he's vowed to continue

his charity work Dr Taufiq and

his family had planned on spending They had spent their life s`vings

on a building which they wanted to turn into an Islamic communhty

centre, and religious school. Dr Taufiq had planned

on his wife and children johning him here after they had finished

their studies in Leicester. Instead, he brought them back

to Dublin to be buried. You can say now,

I am a bird without any wings. Shehnila, Zainab,

Bilal and Jamal had lived She knocked on my door,

like an angel. And it's like,

we just got on from there. She was not a neighbour,

she was like my family. There is not a day that goes

when we don't think of them, The neighbouring terraced homes were

also badly damaged in the fhre. We had no choice

but to move back home. I had the hall window coverdd,

with a black material. It took me over two months to take

that material off the window. Devout Muslims,

the Taufiqs dedicated Therefore there are no photos of

the female members of the f`mily. They were popular within

this close`knit community. The kids used to talk about local

sports things, this and that. Bilal was the quiet one,

we always said. Zainab was my princess, she loved

to learn things, loved cookhng. He always had a big smile

on his face. Dr Taufiq's strength since losing

his family has been deeply `dmired. At no point did he talk

about problems in relation to what He has talked about,

he has simply wanted to put And I think he drew

his strength from his relighon. He was deeply rooted within

the faith in itself. I think that's what helped him

through troubled times. Dr Taufiq says it is his fahth

which has given him the strdngth to His family laid to rest herd

on the outskirts of the citx. Dr Taufiq says he won't let

their dreams die with them. His life now dedicated to ftlfilling

the vision they had I will continue and devote

my life for the community work, so My belief, they are waiting

for me in Paradise. The deaths of the Taufiqs bdgan

of course with another killhng. That of Antoin Akpom just

a mile from here in Kent Street His killer has been

brought to justice. The subsequent revenge killhngs

of four entirely innocent pdople has caused even more heartbreak

for Antoin's mum. Five lives were lost by what

happened here on Kent Street. Gang rivalry and revenge combining with

deadly consequences. Antoin Akpom died from a single stab wound from a

12 inch kitchen knife after two confrontations with two teenagers in

the space of a minute. The 20`year`old left behind a fhancee, a

family and fatherhood. The trial judge said despite his failtres

there was a good, positive side to Antoin Akpom, and his murder was the

result of gang`related stredt violence. His family insist he was

never part of a gang and wotld not have condoned revenge. He would not

have wanted that. He would not have wanted that, that somebody dlse

innocent people should be khlled. I can feel from my son, and only God

knows how Mr Taufiq is feelhng, he has lost his whole family. Ly heart

goes out for him, I'd find ht difficult to cope, and I don't know

how. He must be really strong in God to be able to cope with this because

I do not know what I would have done if that was me. It goes back to the

beginning, the devastation that this one stabbing has caused. Only people

have lost their lives? It h`s turned the whole city, into turmoil from

that one action, it had a rhpple effect of consequences. There are no

words, really. There should never have been a revenge? Not like that,

no. No. No. Not like that. Not to go and burn down someone's homd, when

you don't know who's in it. No. As we've heard

the men who set fire to the Taufiq's But what more do we know

about them and why they went to such In a world away from the Crown Court

in Nottingham, for three of the men, this is where their friendship

started. At the Lancaster School in Leicester. Over the following years,

and through a love of music and football, all eight of them became

friends. Over the past few weeks, I have spent time with people who know

the men and they have given me an insight as to what happened on that

tragic night. The only thing that would have gone through thehr head,

and this is hindsight, we nded to get revenge. We have lost one of our

own, we need to shave his individual who committed this crime th`t we are

serious. This man let them through football, helps coach them. He says

there were disbelief when they were arrested. It was a big shock in the

community as to that it was these boys that were arrested for this

offence. Because these were, these were not known Street boys. Within

the gang, there was one person who stood out. Tristan Richards. Named

by the others as the ringle`der The man who on the front door. What kind

of character is him? Would xou be there not to cross him? Defhnitely,

you would not cross him. Solebody to be scared, respected becausd of the

lifestyle he led. He was a doer one of these people, if you want

something doing, you would go to him. And it would be done. @nd he

was known for that? He was, yes I think on that night, there was an

order given for an act to bd carried out. And the eight individu`ls

carried out that action. Unfortunately, the person that

delivered the orders probably will never end up in court. So, what

about the impact of a community In the hours after that horrifhc night,

it was Doctor Taufiq who, h`ving lost his family, brought calm. The

Taufiq family is a family that has taught us that at times likd this,

you can still stand together and we can forgive each other. It hs the

forgiveness part of it which is most important for us and I think we need

to take that to heart. I fedl a bit responsible as to that youth is that

we were mentoring and guiding ended up like this. The flames in Wood

Hill, the blood on Kent Strdet, the funeral at Benny Hill Park, those

things never go away. `` Sphnney Hill. We can always pray and hope

that we can learn from it, rise from the ashes and turn this awftl

situation into something re`lly positive so it never happens again

to anybody. We can learn th`t revenge is not sweet, it's better.

This was a difficult case to bring to court.

Police were met with a wall of silence.

The defendants constantly changed their stories.

Men each blaming the other for being involved.

The jury had to be told about the legal definition

That's where every member of a group is guilty

of a crime regardless of who poured the petrol or lit the blaze.

So how did the police investigate such a complex case

The trappings of a modern world tracked the killers. It was CCTV,

smartphone data and an insurance tracker device which gave

indisputable proof that the men were all together at Wood Hill. The main

part of the investigation w`s looking at the movement and event of

the evening, so what we know happened and pairing up with the

vehicles involved. In order to do that, we had to use different

technology to use and establish where each individual was at each

time. The police are increasingly relying on technology where once

upon a time it was eyewitness testimony, but now we can avail

ourselves of technology with mobile phone, CCTV, Internet and e`mails.

It took hundreds of hours of police work together the information. There

was a lot of CCTV viewed, hours of it which had to be viewed ntmerous

times to make sure we did not miss anything. Mobile phone records, we

went through different records and that takes a number of hours to

establish what people have been doing. To try and understand their

movements on the night. It forms a big part of the enquiry, it took a

number of hours to do but I am confident we have done everxthing

which has been able to put the evidence to the court. Therd is a

massive cost in terms of labour and police staff interrogating this

evidence, but also a commercial cost, police have to make

application to get the data and buy it from mobile phone companhes and

the like. Keeping up with advances in technology will be critical in

future investigations. As things progress, the use different sorts of

techniques, and as defendants use different sorts of techniquds to

commit offences, the police and prosecuting authorities havd to stay

ahead of that and also use the same techniques in bringing offenders to

justice. And try and keep ahead of that.

Let's talk to the local MP here Keith Vaz, who joins us frol our

London studio. Your reaction to the verdict today? Justice has been

done. The community is still in shock. The community will always

remember, local people will always remember those tragic few d`ys which

thought the lives of so manx innocent people being taken, five

innocent deaths. Of local pdople, the death of Antoin Akpom, Shehnila

Taufiq, Bilal, Jamal and Zahnab No matter what the verdict is, they

will never be brought back, because of the way that people have used

revenge as their method of trying to avenge the death of their friends. I

think at the moment, what wd want to do is stay united as a city and the

different communities that have come together, because of the words of

Doctor Taufiq and indeed of Antoin Akpom's mothers. These two families

in their own way facing enormous tragedy have ensured that the

justice system, the criminal justice system has been allowed to take its

proper course. Would you agree that the community behaved admir`bly And

that was key to all of this? First, I think the police deserve `ll our

thanks for the way in which they have dealt with this. Leicestershire

police have behaved in the lost professional and wonderful way, and

I think that they deserve otr thanks and our credit. So, too, do local

community leaders, the families and indeed neighbours. This could have

easily split neighbour from neighbour. Actually, what local

people sought was the need to come together. Criminal justice system

has delivered for us today, not just for the families, of those that are

left, in the Taufiq family... I m terribly sorry, we must leave it

there. I think it is import`nt, not to forget but to move on. Wd will

never forget, those... I am sorry we had to cut off Keith

Vaz, little short of time. We will now go back to the studio.

A woman has spoken of the shocking moment when the police told her that

the remains of a murdered couple had been found buried

The victims had been there for 15 years.

But now Sue Bramley says shd has no intention of moving.

Mike O'Sullivan has this exclusive report.

Sue Bramley showed me the b`ck garden of her rented home in Forest

town in Mansfield. By the fdnce she has planted a miniature red Rose

Bridge, Bush `` Bridge, in lemory of the couple whose remains were

discovered in October. Added you feel when the police told you there

were human remains here? Absolutely devastated, went to pieces. Came

home and then all these people started to arrive in the whhte suit

and I was so emotional. Knowing I had lived here all this timd, and I

was sat on two bodies in thd garden. Today at Nottingham Crown Court the

couple's daughter Susan Edw`rds and her husband Christopher was

sentenced to life with a maximum `` minimum of 20 years for murder. They

shot them in 1998 and buried the bodies, then convincing fridnds and

neighbours that the couple were still alive. They stole ?224,00

from the capital. Christophdr Edwards still came back to check the

garden. Shocked, to know I wrote here, and he was looking into the

garden. Sue Bramley has no hntention of moving out, she says she has had

birthday parties for the datghter, now a teenager, in her garddn, and

this is now their home. A hospital chaplain who bec`me the

first clergyman in Britain to have a gay marriage, is no longer `llowed

to lead services in Nottinghamshire. Canon Jeremy Pemberton's licence

has been revoked, though he In April this year he marridd,

in defiance of guidance by Church They ruled marrying someone

of the same sex was at vari`nce with We will see a few changes over the

next few days. We have had lots of war today, temperatures up to 2

degrees, that has triggered a few showers. `` we have had lots of

forms today. We have had a weather front pushing in, we will h`ve

ploughed, and a few light showers, much lighter than today. Sthll a few

rumbles of thunder which will continue over the next few hours,

but they will fade away through the night. So we will be dry through the

night and cloud will break out. Misty and murky first thing tomorrow

morning with temperatures at around 13 or 14 degrees. Another w`rm and

muggy night. Tomorrow morning we should start off with some sunshine,

so some warmth and sunshine through the morning hours. As the, we will

start to see cloud increasing and a few of these light showers kicking

off later off later off in the day. As a result of less sunshind

tomorrow, it will be a bit cooler with temperatures 19 or 20 degrees.

Let's now returned to Wood Hill Thank you very much. This, the day

when eight men were convictdd for their part in the watched rdvenge

attack on the house which you can see behind us, boarded up, ` house

in which a mother and her three teenaged children died. You may have

heard the local MP paying tribute to the way the community responded and

the police investigation, and now Leicester can perhaps enter this

tragic chapter in its history. `` end this tragic chapter.