A group accused of murdering two teenagers in an arson attack swore each other to silence, a court heard.

Anum Khan, nine, died in the fire at her home in Magdalen Road, east Oxford, on August 26 last year. Her brother Majid, 15, died two days later.

Sarah Moon, 19, of Letchworth, Hertfordshire, was with six people accused of the two murders on the night of the fire.

She was with her boyfriend, Mohammed Nawaz, 21, and Alan Swanton and Thomas Liedl, both 18, and the four of them travelled in a red Renault from Hertfordshire to Oxford on the night of the blaze.

Speaking from the witness box, she told of her shock on the night of the killings when she realised that Liedl and Swanton had set fire to a house.

She told the Birmingham Crown Court jury: "I saw Alan and Eggy (Liedl) running past very fast.

"I looked behind me and saw huge flames climbing up the side of the house."

She added that moments before she had seen Swanton and Liedl remove a red petrol canister and two plastic drink bottles from the boot of the car.

When the pair returned to the car, she told the court, they smelled of petrol and were coughing.

"I asked what on earth was going on. There was no reply.

"There was a very strong smell of petrol and I opened the window." Then Miss Moon told the jury that when members of the gang met up during the early hours back in Hertfordshire, they swore each other to silence.

Julian Baughan QC, prosecuting, asked Miss Moon what was discussed at the meeting.

She replied: "It was basically just how shocked everyone was.

"Haq was saying that he was shocked about it and all of us should not talk about it to anyone."

Miss Moon was later arrested and agreed to talk to the police in her third interview.

She told the court that she believed the purpose of the visit to Oxford was for the accused Riaz Munshi and her sister Fiaz to fight some other girls.

She told the jury that she thought Swanton and Liedl were going to give someone "a scare" when they got out of the car with the petrol containers.

She believed the house which was set on fire was empty.

Michael Austin-Smith QC, defending, asked her: "Something was said to the effect 'we want to give them a fright'." Miss Moon replied: "I do not remember who said it or where it was said but something along those lines was said."

She added that Liedl and Swanton looked shocked when they returned to the car.

"You could see the scare on their faces," she said.

"Were they laughing?" Mr Austin-Smith asked Miss Moon.

"Oh no," she replied.

The six charged with the two murders are Alan Swanton, 18, of Southern Way, Letchworth, Hertfordshire; brothers Mohammed Nawaz, 21, and Haq Nawaz, 31, both of Ridge Road, Letchworth; Thomas Liedl, 18, of Birdshill, Letchworth; Haroon Sharif, 20, of Morrell Avenue, Oxford; and Riaz Munshi, 26, of Fulwell Road, Sheffield. They all deny the charges.

The trial continues.

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