Two men charged with murder over fire that killed mum and three children
Two men have been charged with murder over a house fire that killed a mother and her three children in Bradford.
Bryonie Gawith, 29, and her kids – Denisty Birtle, nine, Oscar Birtle, five, and 22-month-old Aubree Birtle – died when their home ‘was deliberately set alight’ last Wednesday.
Now two men have been charged with their murders, along with one count of attempted murder.
Mohammed Shabir, 44, of Alice Street, Keighley, and Calum Sunderland, 25, of Calton Street, Keighley will appear at Bradford Magistrates Court tomorrow.
Four other people remain under investigation, police said.
This includes a 39-year-old man who remains in hospital in critical condition after being arrested at the scene on suspicion of murder.
Another man, 36, was arrested on suspicion of murder an attempted murder on Friday before being released on conditional bail after an interview.
Two more – a woman, 54, and a man, 42, were arrested on Monday on suspicion of assisting an offender.
Both have been interviewed and released on bail.
The fire erupted at the home on Westbury Road just before 2.10am. Neighbours awoke to screams as smoke spewed from the home and into the street.
Bryonie, known to many as B, was described as the ‘life and soul of the party’ by her family.
‘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,’ her family said in a tribute.
‘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.’
Bryonie’s fiancée and the father of her three children, Jonathan, said he has been ‘left ‘absolutely distraught’.
‘I loved them with all my heart and if I had the chance, I would take their place in a heartbeat. I cannot imagine life without them,’ he said.
‘They will never be forgotten and will always be in my heart.’
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