Pair jailed for life for 'pure evil' arson attack

Two men have been jailed for life for murdering a man and severely injuring his mother in an arson attack on their Wolverhampton home.

The family of victim Akashdeep Singh described the incident last June as "pure evil", adding the attack was meant for someone else and had left the family with "unimaginable" pain and suffering.

Daniel Tatters and Dale Francis were given respective minimum of 34 and 36 years for murder and three counts of attempted murder at Wolverhampton Crown Court on Thursday.

Mr Singh, who was trapped upstairs in the fire but managed to call emergency services, later died in hospital.

Tatters, 26, of no fixed address, was captured on CCTV smashing a bay window at the home in Plascom Road, East Park, before using petrol and a lighter to engulf the living room in flames.

Francis, 37, from Basford, Stoke-on-Trent, acted as a driver and lookout, jurors heard.

One of Mr Singh's brothers managed to escape by jumping out of a first floor window. Four other family , including a 16-year-old boy, were injured in the blaze.

The family said they could find no reason why they had been targeted. Mr Justice Wall told the court he could not say whether or not the men had "identified the wrong house" and had intended to kill other victims.

But the pair's "appalling criminality" had ended the life of Mr Singh and had a "catastrophic" effect on his family, he said.

Jailing the pair, the judge told them: "I am sure you intended to kill anyone who found themselves in the house at the time of the fire."

The trauma Mr Singh's mother endured included being given R for 35 minutes before she could be taken to hospital.

She spent almost three months in intensive care and had part of her leg amputated.

The men put other lives at risk, including those of neighbours and firefighters, the judge said, telling the pair he had considered imposing whole life sentences.

In a victim impact statement read to the court, Mr Singh's family said the fire was an act of "pure evil".

The statement, read by prosecutor Mark Heywood KC, said: "On the 25 of June 2024 our whole life changed as a family.

"Within minutes everything had turned to ashes."

They said Mr Singh had "had a lot of dreams and goals for the future, including marriage and children, but this has been snatched away from him and us because of the fire".

They added: "This fire was meant for someone else. But we will have to live with the consequences of this fire forever."