Hameeda Begum

Hameeda Begum and Alana Mian died in a fire at their home in Little Holme Walk, Great Lever, Bolton after a bin outside was set on fire on 23 June 2008 at about 11.30pm.

Hameeda Begum died an hour-and-a-half after the fire in hospital whilst Alana Mian died a month later.

Hameeda Begum had suffered 91% burns.

Alana Mian died from organ failure.

Alana Mian's mother herself spent two months in hospital. 

A firefighter who was injured on the staircase whilst trying the save the occupants spent nine months in hospital having suffered up to 50 per cent burns to his lower back and legs, and serious burns to his hands. It was said that the firefighter was unlikely to return to operational firefighting duties. He was seen to stagger out of the house with his clothing and oxygen breathing tank on fire. A witness said, 'The fire fighter’s boots and coat were completely melted and his face was covered in blood. It was just an awful thing to see. He was screaming and staggering everywhere'.

The fire had been started in a wheelie bin that had been left outside the property which then set light to other bins and a fridge and then a gas mains supply. There had been carpet in the bins and it was thought that propane from the fridge also caught alight.

It was heard that the fire had then set light to the house and was then funnelled up the stairs in a vacuum after neighbours and Hameeda Begum's husband broke the windows in an effort to save them. Neighbours had used a ladder to get up to the windows and had smashed them with shovels and poured in water.

It was heard that temperatures in the house reached up to 900C.

A 22-year-old and a 12-year-old were arrested soon after on suspicion of murder and three counts of attempted murder but no charges were made. It was said that little evidence could be found and that witnesses were being threatened. The 22-year-old and a 12-year-old had both been from Great Lever in Bolton.

The Crown Prosecution Service later said that two suspects had been identified and that evidence found linking them to the fire but that the evidence was insufficient to support criminal charges.

It was heard that one man had told one family, 'You’re going to need a panic button because I’m Simon, I’m the one who did that fire and watch, I’m going to do the same thing to this house'. The man was later convicted for witness intimidation for three years in 2010 after having gone on the run. Two other people were also convicted of witness intimidation.

It was suggested that the fire had been a revenge attack after Hameeda Begum's husband gave evidence against four members of the Manchester based Gooch Close gang after they stole £10,000 worth of jewellery from his shop. The men were all convicted and given lengthy sentences. However, the police denied that it had been a revenge attack.

Alana Mian and her mother had lived in Australia at the time and had been visiting family in Bolton at the time of the fire.

A fire service investigator later said, 'Wheelie bin fires are between 85 and 90 per cent deliberate. I believe that the ignition was deliberate'.

An inquest held in July 2010 ruled that Hameeda Begum and Alana Mian had been unlawfully killed. The Coroner said, 'This was a deliberately ignited fire. I have absolutely no doubt in reaching the verdict that each of the victims was unlawfully killed'.