Murderer Jamie Barrow knew his neighbours, who he killed after starting a fire at their Clifton flat, would have had "no chance whatsoever," said the judge who sentenced him to a 44-year minimum term of a life sentence. Addressing Barrow in the dock she said she had to sentence him for the murders of Fatoumatta Hydara, and her daughters Fatimah Drammeh and Naeemah Drammeh and for arson being reckless as to whether the lives of the neighbouring residents of 23 Fairisle Close would be endangered.
Barrow, 31, who lived in Fairisle Close next door to the family, was convicted of those four offences unanimously by a jury at Nottingham Crown Court on July 2, 2023, and he was sentenced yesterday (Friday, July 7).
Mrs Justice Tipples, who was the trial judge, said Mrs Hydara was a young woman full of compassion and love - a caring and devoted daughter, wife, mother, sister and friend. She was 28, married to Aboubbacarr Drammeh, and the mother of two beautiful little girls, Fatimah, who was 3 and Naemmah, who was 1.
Read more: Dad of mum and daughters who died in fire spoke directly to their murderer
"Their short lives were full of joy and happiness, and they brought joy and happiness to all those who knew and met them". Her husband would regularly visit as he worked and lived in Minnesota.
The family hoped to be united forever one day in the US - and were due to attend the US Embassy in London to complete the final stage of a long immigration process.
But the judge told Barrow that never happened because he murdered Aboubbacarr’s wife and his young family. "The impact on Aboubbacarr has been devastating," added the judge to the courtroom which was packed with rows of family and friends.
"His loss has been immeasurable. Yet his dignity throughout this trial, in this court today, has been truly remarkable. Likewise, Fatoumatta’s mother, Aminatta Dibba, has said that Fatoumatta was “a light for her”, and now that she is gone her world is “dark and empty”.
"She adored her grandchildren, and all that they brought to her life. What you have done has had a lasting impact on Aminatta and her whole family, the extent of which they, as a family, are yet to fully understand.
"Aminatta is, and remains, overcome with great emotional and psychological pain. The lives of all those who knew and loved Fatoumatta, Fatimah and Naemmah will never be the same again".
The judge turned to the facts of the case as Barrow sat unperturbed in the dock, his eyes puffy and a sign of a sleepless night. But he never shed a tear. Mrs Drammeh and her daughters all died from smoke inhalation from the fire Barrow lit, with petrol, inside the entrance to their flat at 23 Fairisle Close at 3.13am on Sunday 20 November 2022.
Fatoumatta and her two small children were asleep in their beds, in their own home. The judge added: "You knew they were all at 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. In that time, the smell of the fire was spreading to nearby houses.
"Those who were awake at a party nearby smelt it. They, and other neighbours, could then see the smoke billowing out of the property. 999 was first dialled at 3.17am.
"You heard the noise and commotion as people were rushing to the scene to help and it was then, when you heard that noise, that you grabbed your dog, and fled the scene so that no one would find you.
"You returned just over ten minutes later, pretending you had no idea about what had happened". By that time firefighters were on the scene - and Barrow knew that the lifeless bodies of Mrs Hydara and her two daughters were brought out of their flat.
Police and ambulance services had raced to the location but nothing could be done to save the lives of the family, who were Barrow's neighbours for several years.
The two young girls were declared dead shortly after they arrived at hospital, and Mrs Hydara died the following morning. The background to the murders was outlined by the judge, who referred to Barrow, a man who had lived at 19 Fairisle Close since 2015.
He kept a motor bike in his yard, and you had done a course in motorcycle maintenance. He had become very good friends with Jessica Yates, and you would regularly get drunk with her.
By October 2022 he wanted a relationship with her, said the judge, but she was not interested. Barrow, on the other hand, was not happy about this.
In early November Barrow's seven-year old son had had a fall, and ended up in hospital, and he then stayed with his father for two weeks. By the second week, reclusive Barrow was struggling to look after him, and he returned to his mother on about November 14.
In the days after that, Barrow tried again to pursue Jessica, but it was clear she was not interested. The judge also said Barrow had problems with his mental health for many years.
In 2013 he was first diagnosed with a personality disorder. He has Emotionally Unstable Personality Disorder of both sub-types: Borderline Personality Disorder and Impulsive Personality Disorder. His personality disorder is moderate to severe.
The judge said: "You have difficulty with managing your anger, and in the past you have engaged in violence with others and self- harmed. You also have Dissocial Personality traits which are difficulties in maintaining relationships with others and a low tolerance to anger.
"You also meet the criteria for mental and behavioural disorders due to alcohol use, which is harmful use, but not dependence. These disorders do not affect your cognitive ability.
"You took anti-depressant and anti- psychotic medication, citalopram and quietapine. The quietapine was prescribed to reduce your anger, and your urges to harm yourself and others.
"It was you who decided to stop taking quietapine in summer 2022, and that had an adverse effect on your mood and sleep. You also have an interest in and considerable experience of fires.
"You have often sat and watched fires burn and develop, and you set your first fire when you were 14 or 15. I am sure that shortly after 4.30pm on Saturday 19 November you heard Mrs Hydara and her children arrive back at their home"
The family had been staying with Mrs Hydara’s parents for a couple of days, as she needed to attend some medical appointments, and she needed help with the children. Barrow could always hear Mrs Hydara and her children if they were at home in their flat, as their flat adjoined his living room wall.
Late that afternoon the little girls, Fatimah and Naeemah, were lively and excitable as they were playing with, and arguing over, new toys their grandmother had given them. Their mother, Mrs Hydara, was wondering how she was ever going to get them to settle, and ready for bed.
"You heard those children having fun and playing and, at 5pm, you started drinking," the judge told Barrow. Shortly after 6.30pm Barrow went out to buy six cans of lager, returned to his flat and drank them, before venturing out again for more beer.
"You knew that, if you drank between six and eight cans of beer that would get you into a good mood, and anything else was excessive and that would change your mood," the judge said.
"When you returned to your flat shortly after 11pm you spoke to Jessica. You were slurring your words, and she could tell you had been drinking. You tried to flirt with her.
"You were in a particularly dark and depressed state"
"She told you again she was not interested and that made you upset. You then spoke to another friend, Luke, and told him your head was going. You were listening to depressing music, self-harming and exchanging messages with Jessica.
"You were in a particularly dark and depressed state. You were badly impacted by Jessica’s rejection of you. You were very angry, you had urges to harm others and you continued drinking".
By the early hours of 20 November 2022, Barrow had drunk ten or eleven cans of beer, which the judge said had disinhibited him and made him more impulsive. On the evidence of. Dr Furtado, the forensic psychiatrist who gave evidence at trial, his voluntary consumption of alcohol was the main reason for what you then did.
The judge was sure, based on Dr Furtado’s evidence, that Barrow was well aware that drinking alcohol was the last thing he should have done, in the mental state he was in on 19 November 2022, and in the early hours of 20 November.
"I am also sure that, based on the evidence of Dr Furtado, that the disorders he diagnosed in you were all present in the early hours of 20 November," she said. "However, I am sure those disorders did not impair your ability to understand the nature of your conduct, or the consequences of your actions; they did not impair your ability to form a rational judgment; and they did not impair your ability to exercise self-control.
"You were well aware what you were doing and I am quite sure, from what you did, that you wanted to kill Mrs Hydara and her two children. You were very angry, but it is only you who knows why you did this. The reasons are impossible to understand from the evidence.
"You deliberately chose a slim-necked “Clean N Fresh” bottle from your kitchen, threw the nozzle in the bin in your flat, and put on blue plastic medical gloves. You then went downstairs and outside to your yard from where you took time to siphon off petrol from the fuel tank of your motorbike.
"I am sure that you filled the bottle with as much petrol as you could. You then went round to the yard outside 23 Fairisle Close, and wedged the letter box in the front door open with something rigid. I am sure that, when you did this, you saw the pushchair by the front door.
"There was an immediate fireball"
"You then inserted the bottle through the letter box, and poured the petrol into the flat at the very bottom on the stairs, which provided the only access to the living area on the first floor. You used a cigarette lighter to light a tissue in your hand, which you then put through the letter box. There was an immediate fireball, and the fire developed and spread rapidly, with thick toxic black smoke spreading to the upstairs living area of the flat literally within seconds.
"You knew that by starting the fire with petrol at the only entrance to the flat, in the middle of the night with the occupants fast asleep upstairs, that they would be unable to escape.
"The speed at which those who lived nearby responded to the fire was extremely impressive. The pushchair outside the burning front door, made it obvious to those first on the scene that there were children in the flat.
"Those people, who gave evidence at trial, whether in person, or through the statements that were read, were brave individuals desperate to help and save lives. The fire was too strong and too dangerous, and it was spreading to the flat underneath on the ground floor.
"Other lives were immediately in danger, and those first on the scene were knocking on doors and windows to wake the neighbouring residents, and get them up and out of their flats. Likewise, the response of the emergency services was equally impressive.
"Within minutes, firefighters were on the scene, getting the fire under control, and rescuing Mrs Hydara and her children. They were followed by police and ambulance services.
"The police were instructed to make forced entry if they could not wake the occupants of neighbouring properties". Shortly before 4am, Barrow was out on the street with his neighbours, completely calm and composed - and made out he had no idea what had happened.
He was evacuated to the Clifton Campus of Nottingham Trent University with his neighbours, where the local housing officer spoke to him about the provision of temporary accommodation. Barrow's concern was to find out from the housing officer whether he could make an insurance claim for smoke damage to his flat.
The judge added; "You were, by that time, aware that Mrs Hydara and her children, had all been brought out of the flat, were in hospital and were either dead or in a very serious condition. You were arrested later the same day, by police making door to door inquiries.
"You told them you needed to tell them something".
Previous convictions
Barrow had 3 convictions for 4 offences. These were offences of battery and a public order offence in 2011. The most recent offences were in 2018, which were both for possession of a knife, and he was sentenced to six months’ imprisonment, suspended for 12 months.
Aggravating factors
The judge listed them:
- First, you murdered three people. These included two very young children, aged 3 and 1.
- Taken together, these are a very powerful aggravating factor.
- Second, you were under the influence of alcohol when your murdered Mrs Hydara and her children.
- Third, I am sure from Mrs Hydara’s screams that you inflicted mental suffering on her in the few moments between when she woke up, and before she became unconscious from the smoke.
- Fourth, you stood and watched the fire and did not seek any help at all.
- Fifth, you were also convicted of arson being reckless as to whether the lives of neighbouring residents of 23 Fairisle Close would be endangered.
- Sixth, you have previous convictions.
The judge extended the courts condolences to Aboubbacarr Drammeh and the whole family of Fatoumatta, Fatimah and Naeemah, great-grandparents, grandparents, parents, brothers, sisters, aunts, uncles, nephews, nieces and cousins and all their very many relations and friends.
"I commend all of those who sat through this trial in the public gallery for the composure and dignity in which they did so. I know that will have been an extremely difficult time for each and every one of them, and also for those family members and friends who were not present in court.
"The response of all those who lived or were nearby in the early hours of 20 November 2022 deserve acknowledgement as does the response from the firefighters, police, paramedics and ambulance staff. Likewise, the police investigation in this case deserves acknowledgement.
"On behalf of the Court, I would like to commend all those people for what they did whether at the time of the fire, or in the investigation which followed. I would also like to thank all Counsel and solicitors involved".
