Pair jailed for life for murdering 26-year-old man in ‘pure evil’ arson attack

Two men have been jailed for life for launching a “pure evil” arson attack on a family home, killing a 26-year-old man and leaving his mother with life-changing injuries.

Daniel Tatters and Dale Francis were handed respective minimum terms of 34 and 36 years for the murder of Akashdeep Singh and three counts of attempted murder.

A three-week trial at Wolverhampton Crown Court heard Tatters was filmed by a security camera as he smashed and removed a bay window at the home of Mr Singh, before using petrol and a lighter to engulf the living room in flames.

Tatters, 26, and Francis, 37, were told by Mr Justice Wall that their “appalling criminality” had ended the life of Mr Singh and had a “catastrophic” effect on his family.

Jailing the pair, both from Stoke-on-Trent, for life on Thursday, the judge told them: “The family are now all traumatised by the death of Akashdeep Singh.

“I am sure you intended to kill anyone who found themselves in the house at the time of the fire.”

Mr Singh died in hospital hours after the fire after being trapped upstairs at his home in Plascom Road, East Park, Wolverhampton.

As well as killing Mr Singh, the judge said the two defendants had caused injuries to his mother which saw her spend almost three months in intensive care and forced the amputation of part of her leg.

The judge told Tatters and Francis: “She had to be given CPR for 35 minutes at the scene before she could be taken away to hospital.”

After telling both men they had put other lives at risk, including those of neighbours and firefighters who entered the property to rescue family members, the judge said he had considered but decided against imposing whole life sentences.

The judge also said he could not say whether or not the men had “identified the wrong house” and had instead intended to kill other victims.

Tatters, of no fixed address, was caught on CCTV setting the fire while Francis, of Clare Street, Basford, Stoke-on-Trent, acted as a driver and look-out at the scene.

Both were unanimously convicted of murder, arson with intent to endanger life and attempted murder on Tuesday after jurors deliberated for more than nine hours.

In a victim impact statement read to the court prior to sentence, Mr Singh’s family said the fire was an act of “pure evil” meant for someone else which had left a normal family with “unimaginable” pain and suffering.

The statement, read to the court by prosecutor Mark Heywood KC, said: “On the 25th of June 2024 our whole life changed as a family.

“Within minutes everything had turned to ashes.”

Before going to bed, the statement said, family members had been talking about a forthcoming family trip to India but had woken to “horrors that are unimaginable and difficult to describe”.

The family could think of no reason why anyone would wish to harm them and regarded what had happened as “pure evil” which had taken the life of a “happy, loving and innocent” soul.

Mr Singh’s family added: “He had a lot of dreams and goals for the future including marriage and children.

“But this has been snatched away from him and us because of the fire.

“Losing Akashdeep has left a void that will never be filled. We still can’t believe he’s gone – not in a humane way but by being murdered.

“We are just a normal family. This fire was meant for someone else. But we will have to live with the consequences of this fire forever.”