ASSOCIATED PRESS The shop was completely destroyed by the blast

Three men have been found guilty of murder in relation to a shop explosion in Leicester.

Aram Kurd, Arkan Ali and Hawkar Hassan, who denied five counts of murder and five alternative counts of manslaughter, were found guilty at Leicester Crown Court today.

They were also convicted of conspiracy to commit insurance fraud.

On 25 February, the fire tore through a Polish supermarket and two-storey flat on Hinckley Road.

Mary Ragoobeer, 46; her two sons Shane, 18, and 17-year-old Sean and Shane’s 18-year-old girlfriend Leah Beth Reek were killed in the blast, along with Viktorija Ljevleva, 22. Several others were injured.

Disturbing police bodycam footage shown to the court showed a casualty, Thomas Lindop, under the rubble with a severe head injury.

He had been walking by the shop at the time of the blast and suffered a traumatic brain injury and fractures to his skull, head, pelvis and spine, leaving him in hospital for around three months.

During the trial, families of those who died were in tears as they heard cries for help on some of the footage shown to the court, including teenager Scotty Ragoobeer, who survived the explosion in what the prosecution described as a “miracle”. </s> Aram Kurd, Arkan Ali and Hawkar Hassan have been convicted at Leicester Crown Court of murdering five people in a shop explosion.

All three men were also found guilty of conspiracy to commit insurance fraud.

Kurd, Ali and Hassan showed little emotion at the verdicts after the jury took just over 11 hours to unanimously convict them of murder.

The first two defendants were also unanimously convicted of conspiracy to commit fraud, while Hassan was convicted of the offence by a majority 11-1 verdict.

Kurd glanced around the courtroom as the jury foreman took around 10 minutes to confirm the verdicts, while Ali sat with his arms folded looking towards his barrister.

High Court judge Mr Justice Holgate remanded all three men in custody until sentencing in mid-January.

Yesterday at Leicester Crown Court the jury of seven women and five men returned after the Christmas break to continue their deliberations.

The court was opened specially as it would normally stay closed between Christmas and New Year.

They returned this morning to announce their verdict.

All three men have been found guilty of murder and conspiracy to commit insurance fraud.

They will be sentenced at a later date.

The prosecution had claimed the three had hoped to pocket £300,000 by claiming the blast was accidental.

They poured “many, many litres” of petrol inside Polish store Zabka before deliberately sparking it, jurors were told.

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. There was no gas supply to the shop. It was a petrol vapour explosion.

“It was so powerful it demolished the entire building and killed five people inside. One had been left in the shop and four others were in the flat above, enjoying a peaceful Sunday evening together." </s> Three men accused of causing an explosion which gutted a shop in Leicester, killing five people, have denied arson and manslaughter.

A flat above the Polish supermarket in Hinckley Road, was also destroyed in the blast on 25 February.

Aram Kurd, Arkan Ali and Hawkar Hassan appeared at Leicester Crown Court via video link.

All three have been remanded in custody until another hearing at the same court in August.

They each face five counts of manslaughter and one count of arson with intent or being reckless as to whether life was endangered.

A further charge of conspiracy to commit fraud with Viktorija Ljevleva, one of the deceased, between December 31, 2017 and February 26, 2018 was also denied by the three men.

Mary Ragoobar, 46, and her sons, Shane Ragoobeer, 18, and Sean Ragoobeer, 17, who lived in the flat above the shop, died alongside Shane's girlfriend Leah Reek, 18

Mr Ali's partner, 22-year-old shop worker Viktorija Ijevleva, also died in the explosion.

Mrs Ragoobar's husband, Jose Ragoobeer, was working at the time of the explosion. Their youngest son Scotty survived.

Inquests into the deaths of the five victims have been opened and adjourned.

At an earlier hearing at Leicester Magistrates' Court, the prosecution said the explosion had been caused by petrol spread throughout the shop.

Seven people have been arrested in total over the explosion. </s> Image copyright PA Image caption The shop and flat above were both destroyed in the blast

Three men accused of causing an explosion which gutted a shop in Leicester, killing five people, have denied arson and manslaughter.

A flat above the Polish supermarket in Hinckley Road, was also destroyed in the blast on 25 February.

Aram Kurd, Arkan Ali and Hawkar Hassan appeared at Leicester Crown Court via video link.

All three have been remanded in custody until another hearing at the same court in August.

Image caption Store owner Aram Kurd is among the three men charged with arson and manslaughter

The defendants are:

Aram Kurd, 33, of Hillary Place, Leicester

Hawkar Hassan, 32, of no fixed address

Arkan Ali, 37, of Drake Close, Oldham

They each face five counts of manslaughter and one count of arson with intent or being reckless as to whether life was endangered.

A further charge of conspiracy to commit fraud with Viktorija Ljevleva, one of the deceased, between December 31, 2017 and February 26, 2018 was also denied by the three men.

Image copyright Leicestershire Police Image caption Mary Ragoobar lived in a flat above the shop with her sons Sean and Shane

Mary Ragoobar, 46, and her sons, Shane Ragoobeer, 18, and Sean Ragoobeer, 17, who lived in the flat above the shop, died alongside Shane's girlfriend Leah Reek, 18

Mr Ali's partner, 22-year-old shop worker Viktorija Ijevleva, also died in the explosion.

Mrs Ragoobar's husband, Jose Ragoobeer, was working at the time of the explosion. Their youngest son Scotty survived.

Inquests into the deaths of the five victims have been opened and adjourned.

Image copyright Leicestershire Police Image caption Leah Reek, who was Shane Ragoobeer's girlfriend, also died in the explosion

Image copyright Leicestershire Police Image caption The explosion killed shop worker Viktorija Ijevleva, who was the partner of one of the men accused of arson and manslaughter

At an earlier hearing at Leicester Magistrates' Court, the prosecution said the explosion had been caused by petrol spread throughout the shop.

Seven people have been arrested in total over the explosion. </s> Three men are due to appear in court on manslaughter charges after a shop explosion left five people dead.

Arkan Ali, 37, Hawkar Hassan, 32, and Aram Kurd, 33, were arrested after the blast destroyed a Polish supermarket and two-storey flat on February 25.

Mary Ragoobeer, 46, her sons Shane, 18, and Sean, 17, Leah Beth Reek, 18, who was Shane’s girlfriend, and Viktorija Ljevleva, 22, were all killed in the incident on Hinckley Road, Leicester.

File photo dated 27/02/18 of emergency services at the scene of an explosion on Hinckley Road in Leicester. Investigations at the scene of an explosion which killed five are due to finish, emergency services have said.

The trio also face a separate count of arson with intent to endanger life.

Ali, of Drake Close, Oldham, Hassan, of no fixed abode and Kurd, of Hillary Place, Leicester, will appear at Leicester Crown Court for a plea hearing later. </s> THREE men have been convicted of murdering five people in a shop explosion as part of a botched insurance scam.

Aram Kurd, Arkan Ali and Hawkar Hassan have been convicted at Leicester Crown Court of murdering five people after setting fire to the Polish supermarket because the business was failing. They have also been found guilty of conspiracy to commit insurance fraud in attempt to embezzle £300,000. Shop worker Viktorija Ijevleva, 22, Mary Ragoobeer, 46, along with her teenage sons Shane and Sea and Shane’s girlfriend Leah Beth Reek, 18, were killed in the blast on Hinckley Road, Leicester in February. The court heard that Viktorija Ijevleva was left to die in the blaze because she “knew too much”.

Prosecutor David Herbert QC told the trial: "In other words, the devastation that they caused was carried out with the intention to kill.” Mary Ragoobeer lived in the flat above which was completely destroyed. She died along with her sons and Shane’s girlfriend Leah Beth Reek. Mrs Ragoobeer’s husband Jose was out at work at the time of the explosion and their third son survived after being rescued from the rubble.

Mr Herbert told the court that the three defendants intended to maximise damage to the property and “would have known” people were in the flat above. The day before the explosion, Hassan was seen on CCTV buying 26 litres of petrol. After the fire, the container he used was recovered from the wreckage. Ali doused the basement of the building in petrol before running to be collected in the getaway car driven by Hassan.

Kurd feigned shock and concern for the victims as well as doing a series of television interviews. But police began to suspect the fire was deliberate soon afterwards. The jury took just over 11 hours to unanimously convict them of murder. The first two defendants were also unanimously convicted of conspiracy to commit fraud, while Hassan was convicted of the offence by a majority 11-1 verdict. Kurd glanced around the courtroom as the jury foreman took around 10 minutes to confirm the verdicts, while Ali sat with his arms folded looking towards his barrister. </s> Three men who killed five people in a “bomb-like” shop blast have been convicted of murder and plotting to claim a £300,000 insurance pay-out.

Arkan Ali, Hawkar Hassan and Aram Kurd used “many, many litres of petrol” in an arson attack on Kurd’s supermarket – causing an explosion which completely destroyed the shop and a flat above the premises.

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.

A five-week trial was told the defendants left shop worker Viktorija Ijevleva, 22, to die in the building because she was aware of the insurance policy taken out less than three weeks earlier. 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.

Ali, 38, Hassan, 33, and Kurd, 34, were assisted by a Kurdish interpreter throughout the trial after denying murder and alternative counts of manslaughter.

But they were unanimously found guilty of five counts of murder after 11 hours and 26 minutes of deliberations. Viktorija Ljevleva was among the victims (Leicestershire Police)

The trio were also convicted of conspiring with Ms Ijevleva to make a gain, by dishonestly pursuing an insurance claim in respect of the fire.

Ms Ijevleva, Mary Ragoobeer, 46, her teenage sons Shane and Sean, and 18-year-old Leah Beth Reek, 18, who was Shane’s girlfriend, were all killed in the blast on Sunday February 25.

Around 26 litres of petrol was used to start the fire in the basement of the supermarket, triggering a massive explosion at 7.01pm.

CCTV and traffic camera footage released by police at the end of the trial shows people escaping from a nearby takeaway moments after the explosion, and rubble being blasted into the roadway as cars pass by.

Footage recovered by police from a neighbouring business showed Ali in shot three days before the blast – moments before the camera angle was moved.

Further images from the same CCTV unit a day before the fire showed a gloved hand moving the camera angle again – at a time when all three defendants were nearby.

Kurd was also recorded on a security camera as he escaped from the scene at the rear of the shop.

Ali, of Drake Close, Oldham, Hassan, of Eld Road, Coventry, and Kurd, of Hillary Place, Leicester, were remanded in custody and will be sentenced in mid-January.

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.

“It was an explosion, the prosecution say, caused by many, many litres of petrol.

“The explosion and the fire that followed was deliberately caused by these defendants who intended to profit from loss of stock, contents and future loss of business from the shop.

“It was not an accident, the prosecution say, that the petrol used caused such devastating damage.”

Describing the unlawful killing of Ms Ijevleva, Mr Herbert added: “The defendants thought she knew too much and decided to leave her to die in the explosion that they created.

“In other words, the devastation that they caused was carried out with the intention to kill.” </s> Three men in Britain have been found guilty of murdering five people in an explosion as part of a plot to claim over 300,000 pounds ($380,000) from an insurance policy.

Arkan Ali, Hawkar Hassan and Aram Kurd were convicted Friday in Leicester Crown Court.

Prosecutors say they used around 26 liters (7 gallons) of gasoline in an arson attack in February on a supermarket, causing a blast that destroyed the shop and an apartment above.

Prosecutors say the men left a shop worker to die in the building because she was aware of the insurance policy taken out less than three weeks earlier. Four others also died in the explosion. </s> A man from Coventry is due in court today in connection with the explosion at a shop in Leicester that killed five people.

Hawkar Hassan, 32, of Foleshill, is charged with five counts of manslaughter and arson with intent to endanger life following the blast in Hinckley Road on Sunday, February 25.

Hassan is due to appear at Leicester Crown Court today for a plea and trial preparation hearing.

He will be joined in the dock by co-defendants Aram Kurd, 33, from Hillary Place, Leicester, and Arkan Ali, 37, of Drake Close, Oldham.

Kurd is the shopkeeper whose premises was destroyed in the blast.

All three men are currently remanded in custody following a hearing at Leicester Magistrates’ Court last month.

Five people - including a mother and two of her sons - were killed in the blast on February 25.

Mary Ragoobeer, 46, and sons Shane, 18, and 17-year-old Sean lost their lives, along with Shane’s girlfriend Leah Reek, 18, and Viktorija Ijevleva, 22, who was believed to have been working in the shop at the time of the explosion.

Viktorija had been due to start a new job in Coventry.

Shane and Sean’s 15-year-old brother Scotty survived the blast. The schoolboy, who was pulled from the rubble, was taken to hospital with injuries, but has since been discharged.

Their father Jose Ragoobeer, a carer, was at work when the tragedy happened.

Four other men were also arrested in connection with the incident and released under investigation.

Two men in their 30s from East Anglia were detained on suspicion of conspiracy to cause an explosion and offences under the proceeds of crime act.

They were both released under investigation at the start of March.

The third, a man in his 40s from East Anglia, had been arrested on suspicion of manslaughter on Saturday, March 3, and was released two days later after being quizzed by officers.

The fourth, a man in his 30s from the East Midlands, was arrested on suspicion of manslaughter on Tuesday, March 6.

He was released from police custody on Wednesday, March 7.

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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.