Eight convicted over Leicester house fire deaths

A mother and her three children died in the house fire. Credit: Rui Vieira/PA Wire

Two men have been found guilty of murdering a mother and her three children in a botched revenge attack.

ITV News Correspondent Ben Chapman reports:

Kemo Porter, 19, was found guilty of murdering a woman and her three children. Credit: Leicestershire Police

Shehnila Taufiq, 47, her 19-year-old daughter Zainab, and sons Bilal, 17, and Jamal, 15, all died when a fire engulfed their house in Leicester in the early hours of September 13 last year.

Tristan Richards, 22, was found guilty of four counts of murder following the botched revenge attack. Credit: Leicestershire Police

Kemo Porter, 19, and Tristan Richards, 22, were found guilty at Nottingham Crown Court of their murders at Nottingham Crown Court.

Shaun Carter, 24, was cleared of four counts of murder but found guilty of manslaughter. Credit: Leicestershire Police

Six other defendants were found guilty of manslaughter, but cleared of four counts of murder:

  • Shaun Carter, 24

  • Nathaniel Mullings, 19

  • Jackson Powell, 20

  • Aaron Webb, 20

  • Akeem Jeffers, 21

  • Cairo Parker, 17

Nathaniel Mullings, 19, was found guilty of manslaughter, but cleared of four counts of murder. Credit: Leicestershire Police

Prosecutors said the fire was "retribution" for the fatal stabbing of 20-year-old Antoin Akpom, but that the killers had attacked the wrong house.

Jackson Powell, 20, was found guilty of manslaughter, but cleared of four counts of murder. Credit: Leicestershire Police

During the two-month trial, the jury heard that Mr Akpom had been stabbed in the back in a confrontation involving two 19 year olds on September 12.

Aaron Webb, 20, was found guilty of manslaughter, but cleared of four counts of murder. Credit: Leicestershire Police

Prosecution barrister Richard Latham QC said the defendants were friends of Mr Akpom and that they mistakenly targeted the Taufiqs' house, believing it to be the home of one of the 19 year olds.

"They simply got the wrong house - a tragedy," he added.

Akeem Jeffers, 21, was found guilty of manslaughter, but cleared of four counts of murder. Credit: Leicestershire Police

There were tears in the public gallery as 17-year-old Cairo Parker's manslaughter verdict was read as someone cried out, "He's only a baby!"

Cairo Parker, 17, was found guilty of manslaughter but cleared of four counts of murder. Credit: Leicestershire Police

The judge Mr Justice John Griffith Williams lifted restrictions on naming Parker and said he would hear mitigation tomorrow afternoon before sentencing the defendants on Wednesday morning.