Ten men have been jailed for a combined 130 years for a revenge attack in which a mother and a 13-year-old girl were set on fire in Stoke-on-Trent. The attack took place on December 16, 2021, at a house on Beverley Drive.
Attack details
Shortly before 11pm, a group of men smashed the downstairs windows and poured petrol into the hallway and outside the living room window. A 31-year-old woman and a 13-year-old girl were inside and had to jump out of an upstairs window.
The mother was struck on the head and set on fire, suffering 65% burns, a broken pelvis, broken ribs, and a cut to her liver. She spent two months in a coma and was not expected to survive, but she is now walking again and is predicted to need medical treatment for life. The child suffered 15% burns to her arm, requiring skin grafts.
Sentencing
An 11-week trial at Nottingham Crown Court concluded in February, with several men entering guilty pleas prior to the trial. Today, at Leicester Crown Court, seven men were sentenced, while three others had already been sentenced at Stoke-on-Trent Crown Court.
Haris Mahmood, 22, of Normacot, was given 24 years and nine months after pleading guilty to two counts of attempted murder and arson with intent to endanger life. Shakil Uddin, 23, of Oldham, was sentenced to 34 years after being convicted of one count of attempted murder and arson with intent to endanger life. Ali Abbas, 23, of Normacot, was jailed for 25 years after pleading guilty to numerous charges, including two counts of attempted murder and arson with intent to endanger life.
Riyadh Iqbal, 23, of Normacot, was sentenced to 12-and-a-half years after being found guilty of grievous bodily harm with intent and arson with intent to endanger life. Tayyeb Majeed, 24, of Longton, was jailed for 10-and-a-half years after a conviction for grievous bodily harm with intent. Lukman Khan, 25, of Normacot, was sentenced to 12-and-a-half years after being found guilty of grievous bodily harm with intent and arson with intent to endanger life. Muhammad Sufyaan-Shah, 25, was sentenced to 11-and-a-half years after being found guilty of grievous bodily harm with intent.
Earlier sentences included Bilal Ahmed, 27, of Normacot, who was given 15 months in prison, suspended for 18 months, plus 100 hours of unpaid work after pleading guilty to violent disorder. Naveed Hussain, 32, of Longton, was sentenced to 22 months in prison, suspended for 18 months, after pleading guilty to violent disorder and possession of a knife blade or sharp pointed article in a public place. Kashif Ahmed, 26, of Hanley, was sentenced to 48 weeks in prison after pleading guilty to violent disorder.
Background and impact
The court heard that a fight broke out between Hussain, Abbas, Bilal Ahmed, and Kashif Ahmed at approximately 4pm on the day of the fire. The brawl on Kildare Street, Longton, resulted in Kashif Ahmed sustaining a stab wound to his shoulder. Several hours later, a gang went to the Beverley Drive property and demanded to speak to Hussain, at which point the revenge attack was carried out.
Hussain's ex-partner was 'relaxing in her home' at the time, unaware that he had been in a street fight earlier on, while her teenage daughter was 'on her phone upstairs' when she heard the men breaking in. Judge Mayo said it is 'virtually impossible to imagine a more horrific scene' than what the victims faced that night. The attack was described as 'deliberate revenge for the relatively minor injury to Kashif Ahmed', with prosecutor Siobhan Collins adding: 'It is clear when that was put in motion the intended victim was Naveed Hussain.'
All offenders will serve two-thirds of their sentences, with the rest on licence. Detective Constable Howard Davies said: 'We hope these sentences send a strong message that this kind of violence will not be tolerated and that those responsible will be held to account.'
