Shahid Mohammed

2 offences

What the court heard

His original sentence of 23-years imprisonment was increased after the Court of Appeal judges agreed it was unduly lenient. He was found guilty of murder and conspiracy to commit arson with intent to endanger life in Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, on 12 May 2002. Judgement: "1. In the early hours of 12 May 2002 Shahid Mohammed ('the defendant'), and others, deliberately set fire to a house in which eleven members of the Chisti family were sleeping. Seven members of the family, including five children aged 13, 10, 7, 2 and 6 months respectively, were trapped and died inside the house. An eighth in desperation jumped from the building, sustaining severe injuries from which she died a few days later. The three adults who survived suffered severe burns and the effects of smoke inhalation. On 6 August 2019 the defendant was convicted of eight offences of murder and of conspiracy to commit arson with intent to endanger life. The following day he was sentenced by the trial judge, Spencer J, to life imprisonment with a minimum term of 23 years for each of the offences of murder, with a determinate sentence of 14 years' imprisonment for the arson offence. Her Majesty's Attorney General believed the length of the minimum term to be unduly lenient, and so applied pursuant to section 36 of the Criminal Justice Act 1988 for leave to refer the sentencing to this court so that it may be reviewed. The defendant contended that the minimum term was too long and that a period of about three years during which he was in custody in Pakistan, awaiting extradition, should count towards his sentence. His application for leave to appeal against sentence was referred to the full court by the Registrar. At the conclusion of the hearing we granted leave to refer, quashed the sentences imposed for murder as unduly lenient, and substituted sentences of life imprisonment with a minimum term of 27 years less the 312 days which the defendant had spent remanded in custody in this country. ... 49. We conclude that, but for the defendant's comparatively young age, the Secretary of State would have been likely to have notified a minimum term of or about 30 years in this case. That is because of the number of victims and the grave features of the offending to which we have referred. We underline the use of both the petrol bombs and the petrol poured as an accelerant into the area near the foot of the stairs, because in our view the fact that the offenders had equipped themselves with both is…

Around this case

• Court 23, The Rolls Building, 7 Rolls Buildings, Fetter Lane, London, EC4A 1NL
• Investigated by West Yorkshire Police