Two men appear in court charged with murdering mother and children in house fire

Two men have appeared in court charged with murder and attempted murder after a house fire in Bradford which left a mother and her three children dead.

Bryonie Gawith, 29, Denisty Birtle, nine, Oscar Birtle, five, and 22-month-old Aubree Birtle died following the blaze at their home in Westbury Road, Bradford, in the early hours of August 21.

On Wednesday Mohammed Shabir, 44, of Alice Street, Keighley, and Calum Sunderland , 25, of Calton Street, Keighley, appeared before a district judge at Bradford Magistrates’ Court.

Both defendants are accused of murdering Ms Gawith and the three children, and attempting to murder Antonia Gawith.

They spoke only to confirm their names, dates of birth and addresses during the brief hearing and were not asked to indicate pleas to the charges.

Flanked by two dock officers, Sunderland wore a grey sweatshirt and tracksuit bottoms, while Shabir wore a black zipped top.

District Judge Alexander Boyd remanded the defendants in custody until their next hearing at Bradford Crown Court on Thursday.

Police said Sunderland was arrested following police inquiries in the Keighley area of the city in the early hours of Monday morning.

Shabir was arrested when he attended a police station after 10am on the same day.

West Yorkshire Police said four other people remain under investigation, including a 39-year-old man who was arrested at the scene on suspicion of murder and remains in hospital in a critical condition.

Ms Gawith died at the scene and the three children died from their injuries in hospital.

In a statement issued via the force last week, the family of the victims said the loss of “our B” and the children, referred to as “Chuch, Oggy and Strawberry”, had brought “unimaginable sadness and grief”.

The tribute read: “Our B was the life and soul of the party, music was a big part of her life, she loved music, singing and dancing, she would always be singing and dancing with Chuch (Denisty), Oggy (Oscar) and Strawberry (Aubree).

“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.

“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.

“We are still trying to comprehend what has happened to our beautiful family.

“No words can describe how we are feeling and no words could ever make up for the profound loss we are now faced with.”