FIAZ Munshi has been jailed for 13 years after she was found guilty of being involved in an arson attack which killed two children.
The 38-year-old was convicted of two counts of manslaughter on Tuesday after a “complex and challenging” six-week trial at Oxford Crown Court.
After almost eight hours of deliberation, the jury found the mother-of-two unanimously not guilty of murder, prompting gasps from the public gallery.
She was described as playing a crucial part in the fatal house fire in East Oxford in 1997, which killed eight-year-old Anum Khan and her 15-year-old brother Majid.
She is now the seventh person to be convicted in relation to the fire, after five men received life sentences for murder in 1998.
The family of Anum and Majid Khan paid a visit to their graves at Botley cemetery after today’s sentencing.
It was the first time in 17 years that mum Mehfooz had been to her children’s graves.
The group gathered and prayed, laying down a blanket of flowers.
People show their support for the Khan family outside of the court.
Balloons released outside of Oxford Crown Court in memory of eight-year-old Anum Khan and 15-year-old Majid Khan, who were killed in the 1997 house fire.
- JUDGE'S REMARKS - Mr Justice Robin Spencer
I have to sentence you for your part in causing the death of two children, seventeen years ago in 1997. They were asleep in their family home in Oxford when the house was deliberately set on fire shortly after 3 o’clock in the morning. There could easily have been more deaths. Another five occupants of the house managed to escape with comparatively minor physical injuries. But the psychological and emotional scars of that night will remain with them and with every member the family for ever.
Anum was only 8 years old. Majid was only 15 years old. They were the youngest children of the family. In their short lives they brought great joy and happiness to their parents and to their brother and sisters. I have read in full the harrowing victim personal statements made by members of the family. Those moving statements reveal very clearly the depths of the sadness and desolation the family felt and still feel at the loss of these two precious much loved children. Those feelings are as raw now as they were 17 years ago. No sentence I can pass will ease that pain.
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