A British court on Tuesday found a man guilty of killing his neighbor and her two young children by dousing their letterbox with petrol and setting their flat on fire while they slept.
The jury found Jimmy Barrow, 33, guilty of three counts of premeditated murder and arson with endangering the lives of others, in the crime that affected Fatumata Haidara, and her two daughters, Fatima, 3, and Naima Drama, 1.
Barrow admitted at the beginning of the court that he was guilty of manslaughter, saying that he did not know that the family was present in the house, but the trial revealed evidence that his statements were incorrect.
After the verdict was handed down, the victims’ family said in a statement, “Words cannot express the extent of our family’s anguish because of the horrific actions of a man whose actions were utterly callous – and inflicted multigenerational trauma we will never understand.”
After Barrow was arrested two days after the fire, police said the incident was initially registered as a hate crime, but in court, prosecutors said the defendant’s motive may never be known.
It was said that he may have held a grudge against the family because he believed they were leaving rubbish in the alley, or that he wanted to be rehoused by the local authorities in order to be closer to his son.
Claire Dean, of Nottinghamshire Police’s major crimes unit, told the newspaper Guardian Barrow’s offense “makes absolutely no sense”.
Barrow has a history of starting fires and has claimed to find fire “disinfecting”.
The incident took place on November 22, and Barrow said he drank at least eight cans of beer before pouring petrol through the door of a neighbour’s first-floor flat in Clifton, Nottingham, and setting it on fire.
The jury was told that he watched the fire escalate before walking away with his dog while smoking a cigarette.
The victims’ family was due to move to the US to join the husband, Boubaker Drammeh, who was working there, and the family was nearing the end of a three-year visa application process, according to the Guardian.
Barrow admitted to police that he was responsible for the crime, according to the Guardian, during the initial investigation process.
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2023-07-04 20:07:25
