By Ross Lidbetter

ross.lidbetter@essnmedia.co.uk

AN obsessed 15-year-old from Thornton Heath, who murdered his ex-girlfriend and her sister in an arson attack, faces a life sentence.

Akmol Miah targeted Maleha Masud, 15, and got his cousin to help him pour petrol through her family's letterbox in revenge for being dumped.

Miah was besotted with Maleha, contacting her 1,679 times by text or telephone during their three-month relationship.

But when she broke up with him, he told her: "I'm going to f*** your family up."

Miah recruited his cousin, Shihabouddin Choudhury, 21, and searched on Google for "how to burn someone's house down".

Armed with this information, Miah and Choudury set fire to the Masud family home, killing Maleha and her 21-year-old sister Nabiha.

After a six-week trial at the Old Bailey, the pair were found guilty of murder. Miah was also found guilty of three counts of attempted murder.

The cousins had crept to the door of their victims' home in Lessingham Avenue, Tooting, in the early hours of June 21 last year.

They poured and lit petrol through the letterbox while their victims slept. The fire engulfed the hallway and stairs, trapping the family in their bedrooms.

Inside, Rubina Masud, 53, was woken by the sound of her eldest son, Zain, 22, shouting "Fire!". Both managed to escape after jumping out of a bedroom window.

Nabiha, Maleha and their 16-year-old brother Junaid were still trapped inside the house.

Firefighters fought their way into the house and found Junaid first. He was breathing but had been badly hurt, recovering only after 45 days in intensive care.

Next they found Maleha curled up on her bed. She had stopped breathing and never regained consciousness.

Nabiha was found in the front bedroom of the house. She had been badly burnt and though she briefly stabilised in hospital she died on July 25.

Callously Miah returned to the scene the morning after the fire, playing the part of a concerned friend.

He supplied photos of Maleha to gathered journalists, one of whom was so suspicious he contacted detectives.

Having been informed of Miah's threats towards Maleha, detectives went to his home and found a petrol canister.

They also discovered that the screensaver on his computer was a picture of the burnt out house.

DCI Damian Allain, from the Homicide and Serious Crime Command, said: "The Masud family are a loving, hardworking and high achieving family.

"Words cannot describe how they have suffered at the hands of Miah and Choudhury."

The pair will be sentenced on July 9.