Gang members accused of murdering two youngsters in an arson attack also planned to slice off the fingers of their sister, a court heard.

Anum Khan, nine, and brother Majid, 15, both died as a result of the fire at their Magdalen Road, Oxford, home on August 26 last year.

Birmingham Crown Court has heard how two white teenagers and four Asians plotted to firebomb the terraced home once the Khan family had gone to bed.

Yesterday, convicted fraudster Sundar Khutan, 21, told the jury that there had been a second "mission" planned earlier the same evening, involving accused Riaz Munshi and her sister Fiaz.

The Munshi sisters, the court heard, were sitting in the back of a car when they armed themselves with craft knives, before the vehicle was parked in the Ablett Close area. The plan, Mr Khutan, told the jury, was to visit the home of Shanaz Khan, the sister of Anum and Majid, because the Munshi sisters bore a grudge against her and wanted to attack her.

Cross-examining, Robin Grey QC, reminded Mr Khutan, a convicted fraudster, of the second of three statements he gave to police.

Mr Grey said: "You said it was decided that it would be better to get the girl when the lights were out and she was least expecting it. "Fiaz said she wanted to grab her hair, slice her face and slice her fingers off."

Prosecution witness Mr Khutan then added in the statement that the accused Haq Nawaz then told him to persuade the Munshi sisters to call off the mission.

"Haq told the girls to leave, because with five blokes in the house it was too heavy," Mr Grey said, continuing to remind Mr Khutan of his statement to police. "You said Fiaz was annoyed?"

Mr Khutan replied: "Yes."

The court then heard that Mr Khutan was not sure whether he travelled to Oxford on the night of the fire in a red or black Cavalier.

"There were so many Cavaliers you would have thought the cars were being given for free," Mr Khutan told the jury.

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 court has heard that Swanton and Liedl started the blaze by squirting petrol through the letterbox and lighting it.

The six accused plotted the arson attack when a feud developed between the Khan family and the Munshi family. The case continues.

Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.