Arson murderers sentenced to life imprisonment for 'pure evil' attack on Wolverhampton family home

Daniel Tatters, 25, and Dale Francis, 37, were unanimously found guilty on Tuesday for the murder of 26-year-old Akashdeep Singh, the attempted murder of three of his family members and arson with intent to endanger life. 

Tatters, of Ralph Street, Sneyd Green, Stoke-on-Trent, and Francis, of Clare Street, Basford, Stoke-on-Trent, were jailed today for a combined 70 years at Wolverhampton Crown Court.

The verdicts came after a three week trial which heard the pair travelled from Stoke-on-Trent to set fire to the Plascom Road house on July 25, last year.

A video of Tatters smashing the front window of the Singh home was shown to the jury during the trial.

In a victim impact statement, which was read out to court, the family said: "Everything changed that day, my whole life had turned to ashes. Before we went to bed we were talking about a holiday to India which we were all looking forward too. We went to bed to wake up to horrors that are unimaginable and hard to describe.

"The impact is indescribable, the impact and trauma can never be forgotten. What happened was pure evil.