Seven men, including a 23-year-old from Oldham, have been jailed for a revenge petrol bomb attack on a home in Stoke-on-Trent that left a mother with life-threatening injuries and her teenage daughter seriously burned.
Shakil Uddin, of Vale Drive, Oldham, was among the group sentenced at Loughborough Crown Court today for the arson attack on Beverley Drive, Bentilee, at about 11pm on Tuesday, December 16, 2021. The court heard the fire was set as a deliberate act of revenge against Naveed Hussain, the woman's ex-partner who often visited the property.
Attack after stabbing
The attack came hours after Kashif Ahmed was stabbed during a violent disorder in Normacot. Prosecutor Siobhan Collins told the court that the stabbing "established the foundations for the revenge attack" and that the intended victim was Naveed Hussain.
The two-bedroom semi-detached house was occupied by a mother and her 13-year-old daughter. Both were inside when the fire was set and escaped by jumping from a first-floor window. The mother suffered 45 per cent burns to her head, neck, legs and upper arms, a severe inhalation injury, fractures to her ribs, a fractured pelvis and a lacerated liver. It was thought she would not survive. Her daughter suffered 12 per cent burns, an inhalation injury and required skin grafts.
Sentences handed down
Ali Abbas, 23, of Wren View, Normacot, who pleaded guilty to arson with intent to endanger life and two charges of attempted murder, was jailed for 25 years. Haris Mahmood, 22, of no fixed address, who pleaded guilty to attempted murder and two charges of arson with intent to endanger life, was jailed for 23 years and nine months.
Shakil Uddin, 23, of Vale Drive, Oldham, who was convicted after trial of attempted murder and arson with intent to endanger life, was jailed for 34 years. Muhammad Sufyaan-Shah, 25, of no fixed address, was jailed for 11-and-a-half years for grievous bodily harm with intent. Tayyeb Majeed, 24, of Clayfield Grove, Longton, was jailed for 10-and-a-half years for grievous bodily harm with intent. Riyadh Iqbal, 23, of Buccleuch Road, Normacot, and Lukman Khan, 25, of Hamilton Road, Normacot, were each jailed for 12-and-a-half years for grievous bodily harm with intent and arson with intent.
Judge Mayo said it was "virtually impossible to imagine a more horrific scene" than the one the victim faced, describing how the daughter heard men breaking in and asking where her step-dad was, and saw her mother on fire. He said he took totality into account when passing "just and proportionate sentences". The defendants will each serve two-thirds of their sentences with the rest on licence.
