A triple murderer who killed a mother and her one and three-year-old daughters by setting fire to their flat has been jailed for life with a minimum term of 44 years.
Jamie Barrow, 31, who was described as “a coward” and a “monster” by his victims’ family was sentenced at Nottingham Crown Court on Friday for what was described as the “hateful” murder of Fatoumatta Hydara and children, Fatimah and Naeemah Drammeh. Mrs Hydara, 28, and her children died after Barrow poured petrol from his motorbike through his next door neighbours’ letterbox in Fairisle Close, Clifton, Nottingham, and set it alight with tissue paper.
Prosecutors said during the trial that Barrow had a “grievance” over rubbish left in an alleyway outside their shared block of flats in Fairisle Close, Clifton, Nottingham, and stood outside to watch the fire take hold.
He then watched the fire take hold for several minutes before walking away, later being seen on CCTV walking his dog with a cigarette in his mouth in the early hours of November 20 last year. Sentencing Barrow this afternoon, Mrs Justice Tipples said: “Fatoumatta Hydara was a young woman full of compassion and love. “She was a caring and devoted daughter, wife, mother, sister and friend.
“She was 28, married to Aboubacarr Drammeh and the mother of two beautiful little girls, Fatimah who was three, and Naeemah who was one. Their short lives were full of joy and happiness, and they brought joy and happiness to all those who knew and met them.”
She later said: “The impact on Aboubacarr has been devastating. His loss has been immeasurable, yet his dignity throughout this trial and in this court today has been truly remarkable. Likewise, Fatoumatta’s mother, Aminata Dibba, has said Fatoumatta was a light for her, and now she is gone, her world is dark and empty.”
Mrs Justice Tipples said: “Fatoumatta and her two small children were asleep in their beds in their own home. You knew they were all home, asleep, and you knew they would have no chance whatsoever. Seconds after you lit the fire you heard the fire alarm in the flat go off. You did nothing. Seconds after that you heard Fatoumatta screaming from the flat. You did nothing.
“Rather, you stood and watched the fire take hold, and you stood there watching the fire develop and spread for five minutes, which was an enormous length of time in the circumstances.” Beginning his sentencing submissions, Christopher Henley KC, mitigating on Barrow’s behalf, said: “Jamie Barrow is realistic that anything I say on his behalf about his remorse and his regret will sound pretty hollow and will provide precious little, if any, comfort to anyone who loved Fatoumatta Hydara, Fatimah Drammeh and Naeemah Drammeh.”
“Jamie Barrow’s focus was principally on himself, his own struggles. His mental health was in crisis, it had been in the days following the time he spent with his son. He was going through a particularly bleak period.”
“Jamie Barrow, whatever minimum term is set, may never be released, and perhaps it’s important that the general public understand that. In my submission I would ask that a severe but fair minimum term is decided upon in this case.”
Mr Henley said that the comments made by Barrow regarding compensation for smoke-damaged belongings were “pretty grotesque” but urged the judge to show “some mercy”. Mrs Justice Tipples confirmed that she would sentence at 2:30pm and reminded the public gallery to listen to her sentencing remarks in silence. Mr Ash said Barrow had previous convictions for possession of a bladed article and battery, among others, but said that the prosecution did not dispute Barrow’s diagnosis of emotionally unstable personality disorder.
Aboubacarr Drammeh, Mrs Hydara’s husband and father of Fatimah and Naeemah, said in a victim impact statement in court that Barrow was “a coward who knew exactly what he was doing and exactly when to do it”. He said: “My trip to the UK that rainy afternoon on November 21 was unplanned. I was escorted to the ICU and Fatoumatta was in an ICU bed. I stood there, I watched the movement on the monitor.
“I was hopeless, and I was left helpless, because I didn’t have a family, and it was the people who mattered most to me. Since then, it has been a downward plunge into darkness and the unknown. “It was unthinkable, it was unplanned, and I wish this on no one else, including you.” Four members of the 11-person jury, who deliberated for almost seven hours before convicting Barrow of murder, also returned to watch the sentencing.
They unanimously found Barrow guilty of the murders and also a count of arson being reckless as to whether life was endangered after the defendant had previously admitted manslaughter. He had denied murder on the grounds that he thought the flat was empty when he lit the fire.
