Lengthy jail sentences over triple murder following Chatham house arson attack

02/07/2012

Two men found guilty of the murder of three members of the same family in an arson attack in Chatham have been sentenced to life imprisonment with a recommendation that they serve a minimum of 38 and 34 years respectively.

Petrol was sprayed through the letterbox of a terraced house on Chatham Hill in the early hours of 10 September 2011 and the resulting fire killed 20 year old Melissa Muhammadi (nee Crook), her father Mark and Melissas young son Noah, who was aged just over 15 months when he died.
Danai Muhammadi and Farhad Mahmud were both convicted of the three murders after a six week trial at Maidstone Crown Court.  They were also convicted of the attempted murder of the two survivors of the fire, Amanda Crook and her son Bohdan.
Muhammadi was sentenced to a minimum of 38 years for the three murders and 30 years for the attempted murders to run concurrently. Mahmud was handed a 34 year prison term for the murders and a 28 year concurrent sentence for the attempted murders.
Emma Smith, Muhammadis partner at the time of the arson attack, was convicted of three counts of manslaughter and she was sentenced to 14 years imprisonment.
Acting Head of the CPS South East Complex Casework Unit, Paul Chamberlain, said: "Although nothing will ever compensate them for their appalling loss, I hope that Amanda and Bohdan Crook will take some comfort in the fact that those responsible for this awful crime have been brought to justice. The Complex Casework Unit worked in close partnership with Kent Police to bring this case to a successful conclusion, as a result of which two men are today beginning hefty life sentences for setting a fire which so tragically took the lives of three members of the same family."