Man given whole-life order for murder of woman and children in Bradford fire

Sharaz Ali, 40, sentenced over arson attack in which his ex-partner’s sister and her three children died A man who killed his ex-partner’s sister and her three children by setting fire to their house has been sentenced to a whole-life order. Antonia Gawith said she was “haunted” because she was the intended target of the arson attack by her former boyfriend, Sharaz Ali. “Knowing they died because someone wanted to kill me is a torment I can never put into words,” she told a sentencing hearing on Friday. Antonia’s sister Bryonie Gawith, 29, and Bryonie’s three children – Denisty Birtle, nine, Oscar Birtle, five, and Aubree Birtle, 22 months – died in the blaze started at their home in Bradford. Ali, 40, was “motivated by jealousy and fuelled by drink and drugs” when he turned up at the house in the early hours of 21 August 2024. Antonia, who had ended an abusive seven-year relationship with Ali, managed to escape the fire but Bryonie and her three children died. Sentencing Ali to a whole-life order – meaning he will never be released from prison – the judge, Mr Justice Hilliard, said Ali’s intention was to “wipe out a family”. He told Doncaster crown court that the three children we