Moment killer torches home trapping family inside during horror arson

DANIEL TATTERS AND HIS ACCOMPLICE DALE FRANCIS HAVE BEEN CONVICTED OF MURDER 14:50, 20 May 2025Updated 15:45, 20 May 2025 This is the chilling moment a killer arsonist torched a home just

moments before 'violent' flames trapped a family inside. Daniel Tatters smashed the bay window of the Wolverhampton house before using the liquid to start a blaze inside the living

room. Akashdeep Singh and his family were asleep in the property when the 'horrific' inferno took hold. The 26-year-old became trapped upstairs but managed to raise the alarm with

emergency services, who rescued him from the fire. But he later died in hospital from his injuries. It has since emerged that his home may have been targeted by mistake. Article continues

below Tatters, 26, and his getaway driver Dale Francis, 37, faced a three-week trial at Wolverhampton Crown Court. READ MORE: FIRST PICTURES OF KILLERS WHO SET WOLVERHAMPTON HOME ON FIRE

WHILE FAMILY WERE ASLEEP INSIDE They were today (Tuesday, May 20) unanimously convicted them of murder, arson with intent to endanger life and attempted murder after jurors deliberated for

more than nine hours. Both killers now face life sentences and will discover their fate on Thursday, May 22. Footage released by West Midlands Police captured Tatters creeping up the

driveway of the home in Plascom Road, East Park, in the early hours of June 25 last year. He can be seen carrying a container. Tatters then destroys the bay window and pours in the flammable

liquid. He was filmed running away as a fireball filled the lounge. Prosecutors said Tatters and Francis started the fire 'as the outcome of a considered agreement' following

several previous journeys to familiarise themselves with the area. The trial heard how Tatters, of no fixed address, and Francis, of Clare Street, Basford, Stoke-on-Trent, drove from Stoke

to Wolverhampton. They travelled in Francis' Volkswagen Golf, with Francis acting as a driver and look-out at the scene. Footage proved Tatters went on foot to Plascom Road after the

Golf was parked in Sutherland Avenue, about a third of a mile away. The footage also showed the driver’s door of the Golf opening minutes before two figures were seen entering East Park at a

location said to be a six-minute walk to Plascom Road. The trial heard how Mr Singh's home may have been targeted by mistake. His mother was also hurt in the blaze and suffered

life-changing injuries. A lighter discovered by fire crews near the bay window had Tatters' DNA on it. Phone records, an in-car tracking device and other CCTV footage linked Francis to

the attack. Tatters visited Royal Stoke University Hospital about two-and-a-half hours after the fire for treatment for cuts to his fingers. He told jurors he had never been to Wolverhampton

and cut his hand on a glass pane while falling over in his garden. Francis declined to give evidence, claiming in a written statement that he thought his accomplice only intended to

'torch' a car. Prosecutor Mark Heywood KC told jurors: "Their actions make it clear that, whichever one of them actually started the fire, each of them shared the intention to

murder all the occupants and each assisted and/or encouraged the other to carry that out as planned. "As to why they went to that house on that night, and as to why they did what they

did, these are not matters which the prosecution need to prove. Article continues below "It may never be possible to know why. "Only the would-be killers or those involved in the

enterprise may know that, and for obvious reasons, you may think, they would never reveal it."