Overview
- Testifying for a second day, Sharaz Ali told jurors he lit himself inside Bryonie Gawith’s home and insisted he did not intend to harm anyone else.
- Under cross-examination, Ali called the blaze his “biggest mistake” and accepted it is now obvious the children upstairs could die, saying he was not thinking clearly.
- The court has heard Ali arrived with petrol and a lighter after drinking and taking cocaine, and that he forced entry with help from co-defendant Calum Sunderland.
- Jurors were reminded that Ali suffered severe burns, initially refused treatment, was placed in an induced coma, and later had two fingers on each hand amputated.
- Police interview recordings played to the jury show Sunderland saying he fetched petrol believing it was for a car, denying any plan to kill; the trial continues after the death in custody of third accused Mohammed Shabir.