00:00Specialistar.com here this morning with Detective Superintendent Sean Edwards
00:05who's the lead officer in the investigation into the death in the
00:10house fire of Akashdeep Singh in Plaskham Road Wolverhampton a few weeks
00:16ago and two family members still in hospital but as I said we've got an
00:22update on the ongoing investigation into the into the house fire if you could
00:27tell us a little bit more please. Yes so as you described the as you described
00:31the fire that took the life of Akashdeep. Two weeks into the investigation now
00:39we've collected lots of CCTV images and one of those images we're releasing
00:45today as part of our appeal also we've done a lot of house to house inquiries so
00:50speaking to members of public who live in the in live in the area trying to
00:53find out some more information so people could help us with that with our
00:57inquiries and my appeal today is to after viewing that CCTV and that we're
01:02releasing today does anybody know that person or those people who were involved
01:07you'll see from the CCTV it's one o'clock in the morning on Tuesday the
01:1125th of June early hours of the morning later on that day England will play
01:16Slovenia it's a little draw that might help people remember and so a person
01:23goes up to the window smashes that window but takes about five or six
01:27attempts as a loud bangs and then we think put some accelerants maybe some
01:33like petrol through the window the canister and set a large blaze you'll
01:38see from the CCTV we think that person has either got injuries themselves for
01:43burns or certainly their clothing would be would be damaged that this would have
01:49taken some planning so my appeal today is anyone who knows that person or the
01:53people involved there may be other people involved in the planning or
01:56carrying out recce purchasing the petrol that was used anyone know that or is
02:02that person or those people confided in anybody we're still trying to understand
02:06the reason for this and the motive so my appeal today is for anyone who knows
02:12the people involved knows what it's about to to call the police got a
02:18dedicated team working on this and to speak to that team we'd ask you to to
02:24call 101 or through our web chat and references log 218 of the 25th of June
02:31alternatively understand some people want to give information anonymously not
02:35give their name and again Crime Stoppers can assist us with that so to go through
02:40Crime Stoppers as well which is an independent charity which will take
02:44information anonymously and pass that to the investigation.
02:47Yeah and it was a family home wasn't it? How many people were in their home at the time?
02:51So there were four members of the family in there at the time at the time of that fire
02:56so it's one o'clock in the morning presumably most people were asleep at
03:00one o'clock in the morning and then that's when the fire started so
03:05tragically as you say a 26 year old man is now dead and two of his family
03:11members are still seriously ill in hospital.
03:14Are you linking the person you're looking for to the family at all or is that one of the things you're looking at?
03:20We're still looking at the reason why and this is my appeal today is a motive for this why why they
03:25targeted this house why they target this family so that is one of the things I'm
03:31asking for help with.
03:33Do you know about the communities it tight-knit
03:37community around there that people likely to have seen things and then tell the police?
03:43So some of the footage today we're releasing is from CCTV from members of the public who
03:50who are in the area other members of public have given us information and we're just trying to
03:55piece all that together so understandably you know if you look at the scene there is a distressing
04:01shocking incident and I can only imagine the distress that must have caused to people living
04:06in that area but people have come forward to help the police and I'm now appealing for those who
04:11maybe haven't come forward yet for their information was insignificant I'm asking them to
04:16come forward. I'd also like to make an appeal to the person or the people responsible for this
04:22do the right thing your actions on that night have already caused serious consequences a 26 year old
04:28man has died two members of his family in a hospital I've got a team of detectives working
04:33around the clock on this investigation determined to bring those people to justice
04:37ask them to do the right thing and hand themselves in. And the family they believe they're putting
04:42out a tribute to Akash Deep and also there's two members of the family still in hospital as you say
04:48so it's impacted them obviously very highly. I can only imagine at one o'clock in the morning when
04:54you should be safe in your house and someone deliberately sets it on fire and they lose
05:00a valuable family member a loved family member you'll see from the tribute
05:05this is why we are seeking justice for them. Okay thanks for your time this morning.
Comments