Police appeal to anonymous letter writer ‘with information on fatal house fire’

Police are appealing to the writer of an anonymous letter who says they have information about what caused a fire that killed a mother and her five children almost 14 years ago to contact them directly.

Abdul Shakoor was the sole survivor of the blaze which claimed the lives of his wife, Sabah Usmani, 44, and their five children in Harlow, Essex, in 2012.

Sons Muneeb, nine, and Rayyan, six, died along with their 12-year-old sister, Hira, soon after the fire in Barn Mead.

A third son, Sohaib, 11, and three-year-old daughter Maheen were taken to hospital.

Sohaib died later on the day of the fire, which started in the early hours of October 15 2012, while Maheen lived for three more days.

Dr Usmani had wrapped herself around her Maheen in an attempt to save her from the inferno, an inquest was told in 2014.

Dr Shakoor, who worked at the local Princess Alexandra Hospital, had tried desperately to raise the alarm and save his family.

Essex Police are treating the incident as murder and their investigation, called Operation Shakespeare, has been running for almost 14 years.

The force said on Thursday that it had received an anonymous letter which sets out “a number of details which we are very keen to progress”.

Police said they need to speak to the person directly to be able to do this, and appealed for them to come forward.

Detective Chief Inspector Louise Metcalfe, who is leading Operation Shakespeare, said: “This letter is clearly written by someone who wants this investigation to progress just as much as we do.

“They clearly want Dr Shakoor to get justice for his family.

“The author references the ‘nightmare’ of having information but not feeling able to share it.

“To that person, I’m saying: ‘You can share what you know – you will be treated fairly. Your information could be what leads to a person or people being held accountable for tearing the Shakoor family apart’.”

She said the investigation team remains “committed to securing answers for Dr Shakoor”.

“He has lived for too long with questions over how he lost his family,” she said.

“I would urge anyone with any information on what happened in Barn Mead, Harlow, in October 2012 to please come forward.”

In 2014, a coroner returned an open conclusion in the case, stating that there was not enough evidence to conclude that the deaths were definitely the result of unlawful killing or an accident.

Coroner Caroline Beasley Murray said that “not all of the pieces of the jigsaw are there yet”.

Essex Police said the family were asleep at their terraced home at 1.40am when the fire took hold downstairs.

A silver Ford Focus car was set alight at the same time close to the house.

The home was quickly engulfed by flames and smoke.

An Essex Police spokesperson said: “To date, no one has been held to account, but our work has continued, with more than 70 police officers and staff focused on the incident and the circumstances around it, about 500 people coming forward to give witness statements and almost 2,000 items being examined.

“Now, we’re asking for the author of a letter sent to us to come forward and speak to us directly.”

Police have asked anyone with information to share it on their major incident public portal online at mipp.police.uk/operation/4201020112H31-PO3