A man charged with murder after a house fire that killed a mother and her three children has appeared in court from hospital after waking up from a coma.
Bryonie Gawith, 29, Denisty Birtle, nine, Oscar Birtle, five, and 22-month-old Aubree Birtle died after the blaze at their home in Westbury Road, Bradford, in the early hours of August 21 last year.
Mohammed Shabir, 44, of Alice Street, Keighley, and Calum Sunderland, 25, of Calton Street, Keighley, were due to go on trial on Tuesday after pleading not guilty to murdering Ms Gawith and the three children, and attempting to murder Ms Gawith’s sister, Antonia Gawith.
On Monday, West Yorkshire Police confirmed that Sharaz Ali, 39, of no fixed address, had also been charged with four counts of murder and one count of attempted murder.
Previous court hearings were told that Ali was “in a coma” and would not be ready for trial “even if he does wake up”.
Last week, prosecutor Matthew Bean said Ali had now made a “marked improvement” and may be fit to stand trial by the end of the year.
Ali was formally charged on Monday morning after being interviewed by police on February 25, and appeared at Bradford Crown Court at 11am by video-link from his hospital bed.
Prosecutor David Brooke KC said: “Although his prognosis was very poor, he has made a recovery, although as you can see he is still in hospital and in a hospital bed.
“He was charged this morning formally, having been interviewed a week ago and appeared at magistrates court at 10am.
“The question arises whether or not the court takes the view, in light of his recovery, there should be a joint trial. Inevitably, there would then be a postponement to the trial of the two co-accused.”
Ali, who was not asked to indicate a plea to the charges, could be seen lying on a hospital bed throughout the hearing and spoke only to confirm his name.
The court heard the chief medical officer at the hospital where Ali is being treated had said he “would not be physically fit to sit in a courtroom at this present time, however without any unpredictable delays in his recovery … there is a realistic expectation that physically he would be fit to take part in a trial process in the coming six to nine months”.
An application to delay the trial of Shabir and Sunderland so the three men can stand trial together was adjourned until March 10.
Ms Gawith died at the scene and the three children died from their injuries in hospital.
