Man arrested at scene of fatal house fire ‘expected to survive’, court told

A man arrested on suspicion of murder at the scene of a house fire that killed a mother and her three children has made a “marked improvement” and is now “expected to survive”, a court has heard.

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 last year.

Mohammed Shabir, 44, of Alice Street, Keighley, and Calum Sunderland, 25, of Calton Street, Keighley, are currently due to go on trial next week after pleading not guilty to murdering Ms Gawith and the three children, and attempting to murder Ms Gawith’s sister, Antonia Gawith.

Bradford Crown Court previously heard that a third man arrested at the scene of the fire was “in a coma” and would not be ready for trial “even if he does wake up”.

On Monday, prosecutor Matthew Bean said it had been thought the man “was not expected to survive, or if he did, it was going to take a considerable amount of time for him to recover”.

Mr Bean told the hearing: “In January and February, we received updates indicating a marked improvement in his condition.

“The summary of the current prognosis … (he) is expected to survive and the expected timescale for discharge from hospital is between a number of weeks to a small number of months.”

The court heard he may be fit to stand trial by the end of the year.

An application to delay the trial of Shabir and Sunderland so the three men can stand trial together if the third suspect is charged was adjourned until next week.

West Yorkshire Police previously confirmed the man in hospital is the ex-partner of a woman who was visiting the family.

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