Teen: I was forced to carry can of petrol at death house

28 July 2010

A TEENAGER captured on CCTV carrying a petrol can towards a house which minutes later was torched, killing an innocent couple, has denied starting the deadly blaze.

Giving evidence in the trial of four East London men - three from Newham - Mohammed Junaid Miah, 19, admitted to the jury he was the figure on footage from a camera which recorded three men leaving a car. It was parked just yards from where husband and wife Abdullah and Ayesha Mohammed were murdered when their home was set on fire.

Miah, of Pelly Road, Plaistow, claimed that he had been "threatened" by co-defendant Habib Iqbal, 25, of Strone Road, Forest Gate, to carry the petrol can and he then handed it back "off camera".

The prosecution say that Miah, Iqbal and Sadek Miah (no relation), 23, from the Isle of Dogs, carried out the attack on the orders of 21-year-old Hisamuddin Ibrahim, from Shelley Avenue, Manor Park. All four are charged with two counts of murder. Sadek Miah has admitted two charges of manslaughter.

The allegation is that Ibrahim masterminded the plot to avenge his family's honour because his sister Hafija Gorji was having an affair. Her lover Mo Ibrahim's house was the intended target, but the attackers went for the wrong address.

Earlier Hisamuddin Ibrahim had refused to give evidence.

Innocent victims Mr Mohammed, 41, and his 39-year-old wife died after the blaze ripped through their home. The trial continues.

Full story in this week's Recorder