Seven men have been jailed for a combined 129 years after a revenge petrol bomb attack left a mother and her teenage daughter with serious burns.
The defendants played different roles in the attack, which took place at a property in Stoke-on-Trent at about 11pm on December 16, 2021.
Ali Abbas, Haris Mahmood, Shakil Uddin, Muhammad Sufyaan-Shah, Tayyeb Majeed, Riyadh Iqbal and Lukman Khan were sentenced on Friday to a total of 129 years in prison.
The petrol bomb attack on a home in Beverley Drive, Bentilee, was carried out in revenge after Kashif Ahmed was stabbed during a violent confrontation in a street in Normacot.
Instead, the arson attack seriously injured a Stoke-on-Trent woman and her teenage daughter, who were inside the property at the time.
Prosecutor Siobhan Collins told the court yesterday that the two-bedroom semi-detached house was occupied by the mother and her daughter.
Both escaped the flames by jumping from a first-floor window. They suffered serious injuries, with the mother sustaining life-threatening wounds.
Ms Collins said the fire was deliberately started as an act of revenge involving Naveed Hussain.
Haris Mahmood, 22, of no fixed address, pleaded guilty to attempted murder and two charges of arson with intent to endanger life. He was jailed for 23 years and nine months.
Ali Abbas, 22, of Normacot, pleaded guilty to arson with intent to endanger life and two charges of attempted murder. He was sentenced to 25 years in prison.
Shakil Uddin, 23, of Oldham, was convicted at trial of attempted murder and arson with intent to endanger life. He was jailed for 34 years.
Naveed Hussain was the woman’s former partner and visited her and her daughter at the address from time to time.
At around 4.20pm, Naveed Hussain and another unidentified man became involved in a violent confrontation with a group of men.
That group included Kashif Ahmed, his brother Bilal Ahmed, their cousin Ali Abbas and a fourth unidentified man.
During the confrontation, Naveed Hussain stabbed Kashif Ahmed in the shoulder. Prosecutors said that incident set the revenge attack on the Beverley Drive property in motion.
The intended target of the revenge attack was clearly Naveed Hussain, the court heard.
Within moments of Kashif Ahmed being wounded, members of the group involved in the revenge plot began calling on others for support.
Police later traced a BMW to the Jet petrol station on Lightwood Road, where Mahmood and Uddin bought and filled two petrol cans.
Ms Collins said Ali Abbas was seen speaking with other defendants and appeared to be at the centre of the group’s activity and discussions.
The scene of a suspected arson attack at a property in Beverley Drive, Stoke-on-Trent, on December 16, 2021.
There were was a heavy police presence at the address, which was cordoned off
The court heard the mother tried to shut the door on the gang when they attacked her door.
Ms Collins said: ‘The window was put through. She could smell petrol. She tried to close the door on them, pulling her daughter behind her.
‘She heard a match being lit. Her clothes were on fire. There was a smell of petrol, the sound of liquid. She said, ‘I just knew whoever it was, I could hear petrol being tipped and I could smell it’.’
The mother suffered 45 per cent burns to her head, neck, legs, and upper arms.
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She also had a severe inhalation injury, fractures to her ribs, a fractured pelvis, and a lacerated liver.
It was thought she would not survive.
Her 13-year-old daughter had 12 per cent burns, an inhalation injury, and required skin grafts.
Ali Abbas, aged 23, of Normacot, who pleaded guilty to arson with intent to endanger life and two charges of attempted murder, was jailed for 25 years.
Muhammad Sufyaan-Shah, 25, of no fixed address, who was convicted after trial of grievous bodily harm with intent, was jailed for 11-and-a-half years
Tayyeb Majeed, 24, of Longton, who was convicted after trial of grievous bodily harm with intent, was jailed for 10-and-a-half years
Riyadh Iqbal, 23, of Normacot, who was convicted after trial of grievous bodily harm with intent and arson with intent, was jailed for 12-and-a-half years
Lukman Khan, 24, of Normacot, was found guilty of Section 18 – grievous bodily harm with intent and arson with intent
Haris Mahmood, aged 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, aged 23, of Oldham, who was convicted after trial of attempted murder and arson with intent to endanger life, was jailed for 34 years.
Muhammad Sufyaan-Shah, aged 25, of no fixed address, who was convicted after trial of grievous bodily harm with intent, was jailed for 11-and-a-half years.
Tayyeb Majeed, aged 24, of Longton, who was convicted after trial of grievous bodily harm with intent, was jailed for 10-and-a-half years.
Riyadh Iqbal, aged 23, of Normacot, who was convicted after trial of grievous bodily harm with intent and arson with intent, was jailed for 12-and-a-half years.
Lukman Khan, aged 25, of Normacot, who was convicted after trial of grievous bodily harm with intent and arson with intent, was jailed for 12-and-a-half years.
Today Judge Mayo said: ‘It is virtually impossible to imagine a more horrific scene that the victim faced just after 11pm on December 16, 2021.
‘She was at home with her 13-year-old daughter. The Christmas tree was up in the living room.
‘Her daughter was on her phone upstairs. The victim was relaxing in her home in Beverley Drive.
‘Unbeknown to her, her partner had been involved in a street fight earlier that day in the south of the city.
‘This was deliberate revenge for the relatively minor injury to Kashif Ahmed.
‘Two cars drove to Bentilee. There were nine men in those cars, the seven defendants, one man who has fled the jurisdiction, and one person who is as yet unidentified.
‘The daughter heard noise and saw men breaking into their house asking where her step-dad was. She could hear the sound of petrol being thrown.
‘She described her mother as screaming and on fire on her hair, face, arms and legs and her mother was not wearing anything. Mother and daughter escaped through the front bedroom window.’
Judge Mayo 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.