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32 years for arson death plot Driving instructor sent accomplices to torch house of former female colleague By Staff Reporters A BATLEY man has been jailed for 32 years for orchestrating a plot to kill an entire family in a house fire. Mohammed Azad, of Mortimer Avenue in Healey, was convicted of attempted murder after targeting the Heckmondwike home of a woman who left his struggling driving school business. The 45-year-old planned the attack but didn’t physically carry it out. Instead he sent accom-
plices Vishal Tharpar and Semia Hussain to douse the front door of the property, on Stonedene Court, in petrol before setting it alight. Leeds Crown Court heard Azad persuaded the arsonists to carry out the plan by telling them the house would be unoccupied. Tharpar, 32, of Brooke Street in Cleckheaton, and Hussain, 26, of Hawthorne Avenue in Batley, were found guilty of arson being reckless as to whether life was endangered. They were sentenced to nine years and six years in
jail respectively. The court heard that Azad targeted single mum Riqqat Hussain because she had left his company, A to Z Driving, while he was in extreme financial difficulty and set up her own rival firm. During the trial, Alistair Macdonald QC, prosecuting, told jurors the fire took hold at the property at around 3.40am on Sunday August 11, 2019. Ms Hussain, her 17-yearold son and two daughters, aged 16 and 11, were all inside the house at the time.
The court heard that Tharpar and Hussain returned to the property on several occasions to make sure the fire took hold. “It was a thoroughly determined effort to set this fire,” said Mr Macdonald. “Once they were sure that the house was well alight, they made off on foot, leaving the sleeping family in deadly peril.” Continued on page 2
Mohammed Azad, right, and the burned-out home on Stonedene Court which Riqqat Hussain and her children escaped from
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