'Fatal arson was revenge'

A teenager murdered his ex-girlfriend and her older sister in a house fire out of revenge after they split up, a court heard yesterday.

The day before the attack, the 14-year-old boy had searched on Google for "how to burn someone's house down", an Old Bailey jury was told. He had threatened Maleha Masud, 15, that if she did not continue their relationship he would "do something to her and her family", it is alleged.

Maleha died three days after the fire in Tooting, south London, in June last year and her sister Nabiha Masud, 21, a month later. The girl's ex-boyfriend, who cannot be named because of his age, is alleged to have started the fire with Shihabouddin Choudhury, 21, and Rasal Khan, 19, by pouring petrol through the house's letterbox as the family slept.

Choudhury, from Nottingham, and Khan, from Leicester, who are both waiters, each deny both murders, as does the 14-year-old. All three also deny the attempted murders of the girls' mother Rubina Masud, and brothers Zain and Junaid.

The trial continues.