Three men have been convicted of murder after deliberately starting a fire at a Leicester shop that killed five people, including a woman and her two sons, in a plot to claim a £300,000 insurance payout. Arkan Ali, 38, Hawkar Hassan, 33, and Aram Kurd, 34, used dozens of litres of petrol in an arson attack on a Polish supermarket, triggering a huge explosion which tore through the shop and destroyed the flat above it. Leicester Crown Court heard how some residents living near the Polish supermarket on Hinckley Road, Leicester, thought a bomb had reduced the property to rubble. They left Viktorija Ijevleva, a 22-year-old shopworker, to die in the building because she was aware of the insurance policy, which had been taken out less than three weeks earlier, Leicester crown court heard during the five-week trial. Brothers Sean Rajoobeer, 17 (left) and Shane Rajoobeer, 18, and their mother Mary, three of the five victims of the Hinckley Road explosion in Leicester (Leicestershire Police)

Opening the Crown’s case at the start of the trial, prosecutor David Herbert QC told a jury of seven women and five men the defendants intended to maximise the damage to the premises and “would have known” people would have been in the two-storey flat above. In a statement issued by police after the verdict, Jose Ragoobeer, the husband of Mary, and father of Shane and Sean Ragoobeer, said: "Mary was a hard-working, loving mother and wife who was devoted to her family. In fact, about 26 litres of petrol had been used to start the fire in the supermarket’s basement, causing the explosion just after 7pm. During his opening address, Mr Herbert told jurors: “The explosion and the proceeding fire demolished a building and killed five people in the building – one person who was in the shop and four who were in the flat above enjoying a peaceful night in.”

Mr Herbert said: “Even on camera 50 metres away you can see the explosion and the enormity of what happened. Prosecutor David Herbert QC said the blast was so huge residents thought it was a “bomb exploding”

He told the jury: “It was an explosion caused by many, many litres of petrol. In other words, the devastation that they caused was carried out with the intention to kill.”

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Viktorija Ijevleva was left to die because she was aware of the insurance policy, the court heard.
The three men suspected of causing an explosion at a shop in Leicester in February are convicted of murder. The explosion destroyed the shop and the flat above it, killing five people. The three men were also convicted of conspiracy with one of the victims to commit insurance fraud.