Seven men receive nearly 130 years for petrol-bomb attack that burned mother and daughter

A Stoke-on-Trent court sentenced seven men to a total of 129 years for a petrol-bomb attack on a two-bed semi-detached house in Bentilee on 16 December 2021. The assault was motivated by revenge after a stabbing of Kashif Ahmed earlier that day. The fire forced the mother and her 13-year-old daughter to escape through a first-floor window, leaving the mother with 45 % burns, severe inhalation injury, multiple fractures and a lacerated liver, while the daughter suffered 12 % burns and required skin grafts.

Sentences included 34 years for Shakil Uddin, 25 years for Ali Abbas, 23 years and nine months for Haris Mahmood, and terms of 10½ to 12½ years for other participants. Prosecutor Siobhan Collins highlighted the coordinated purchase of petrol and the deliberate intent to endanger lives. The judge called the scene “horrific” and emphasized the proportionality of the punishments.