Farhad Mahmud, Danai Muhammadi and Emma Smith

by Dan Bloom

The trial of a car salesman accused of murdering his wife, 15-month-old son and father-in-law in a house fire is drawing to a close.

High Court judge Mr Justice Sweeney began summing up today in the Chatham Hill murder trial.

The jury of five men and seven women is due to retire to consider its verdict tomorrow.

Jurors have heard six weeks of evidence about car salesman Danai Muhammadi, 24, his friend Farhad Mahmud, 35, and former girlfriend Emma Smith, 21.

Mark Crook (left), his daughter Melissa and her toddler son Noah were killed

It is claimed Muhammadi offered Mahmud money to help spray petrol through his in-laws’ letterbox after his marriage broke down.

His wife Melissa Crook, 20, her son Noah and father Mark, 49, died in the blaze at the terraced house in Chatham Hill, Chatham, last September 10.

Melissa’s brother Bohdan and mother Amanda escaped the fire.

Muhammadi told the court he was blackmailed by two men who wished his wife harm, a story which the prosecution claimed was a “ludicrous fantasy”.

Mahmud, a Maidstone nightclub bouncer, told friends the fire was an insurance scam gone wrong, but he did not take the stand in his own defence.

Aftermath of the fatal fire in Chatham Hill

Smith, who met Muhammadi a month before the fire, said she knew nothing of it until Muhammadi forced her to dial 999. Prosecutors say she “goaded” him into murder.

Muhammadi, of Britannia Street, Coventry, Mahmud, of Fernhill Road, Maidstone, and Smith, of Barley Lea, Coventry, deny three counts of murder and two of attempted murder.

The trial continues.