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

by Dan Bloom

A lodger living with alleged triple murderer Danai Muhammadi has described to jurors how he lent him the "murder weapon" - and showed him how to use it.

Alan Postlethwaite moved in with the car salesman two months before a fire gutted his in-laws' home in Chatham Hill, Chatham, last year.

The blaze killed Muhammadi's wife Melissa Crook, a former pupil at Upbury Manor school, along with her father Mark and toddler son Noah.

Mr Postlethwaite told Maidstone Crown Court today he lent Muhammadi a pump-action weedkiller sprayer, allegedly used to squirt petrol through the house's letterbox, just hours before the fire.

He returned to Muhammadi's home in Britannia Street, Coventry, at 4.30pm on Friday, September 9 and the pair chopped down a tree in the front garden.

Mr Postlethwaite said: "He asked me if he could borrow the sprayer for my allotment as his brother had some weeds he wanted to kill. I showed him where it was and how it worked."

The court heard it would have taken more than 150 pumps to empty the high-pressure spray.

The house with the satellite dish is where Danai Muhammadi lived in Britannia Street, Coventry. Picture: Coventry Telegraph

Muhammadi then called Melissa to say goodnight to Noah, calling the 15-month-old "my lovely boy", Mr Postlethwaite said.

The couple, who had just signed divorce papers, argued about Facebook. An hour earlier Muhammadi's status had changed to "in a relationship" with his new girlfriend Emma Smith.

The four-minute conversation was their last. A few hours later, Melissa and Noah were dead.

The lodger said he noticed nothing unusual about the behaviour of Muhammadi - known as Danny.

Mr Postlethwaite said that straight after the phone call Muhammadi went to the cupboard and grabbed a bag, wrapped the sprayer up in a blanket and put it into the bag.

When Muhammadi left just before 7pm, Mr Postlethwaite said: "He just said he was going out for a couple of hours and I said 'alright, well see you later'."

But Muhammadi and Smith did not return before bedtime, he said. The lodger only saw the car salesman the next morning when "he was the usual Danny", he said.

Police cameras logged Muhammadi's car travelling from Coventry to Maidstone and Chatham that night.

At 2.10am, a man - alleged to be Muhammadi - was shown on CCTV (left) filling a garden sprayer with petrol at the Texaco garage in Maidstone Road, Chatham.

The fatal blaze broke out just before 2.30am.

The lodger gave an insight into the background of Muhammadi and his new girlfriend, who allegedly murdered the trio with Maidstone nightclub bouncer Farhad Mahmud.

He said the Iranian-born 24-year-old may have been on anti-depressants since Melissa, who he met in her early teens, left him after he hit her.

The lodger told the court: "I had seen some little tablets and I said 'what are they for?' and he said 'for anxiety and nerves'."

The pair would argue on the phone, Mr Postlethwaite said: "[Muhammadi] didn't want Melissa to get a job working past a certain time because he wanted Noah in bed."

But Muhammadi had also argued with his brother Osman, the court heard, who didn't want him dating girls while he was still legally married.

Mr Postlethwaite added the car salesman claimed Mark Crook's car was damaged in a made-up "fire" a week before the fatal blaze.

He added: "I had spoken to him and said 'be careful what you get up to, because you want to keep visiting Noah and your wife and not get an injunction or anything'."

Muhammadi; Smith, 21, of Barley Lea, Coventry; and Mahmud, 35, of Fernhill Road, Maidstone, all deny three counts of murder and two of attempted murder.

The trial continues.