Two convicted over £15 debt murders
Jake Sheehan and David Philip
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Friday, 06, Nov 2009 04:53
By Richard James.
Two men have today been found guilty of murdering a grandmother and her granddaughter over a £15 debt.
Jake Sheehan, 20, and David Philip, 19, both from east London, were convicted at the Old Bailey on Friday.
The pair will be sentenced on Monday.
Pauline Adams and Shannen Vickers died in a fire at a flat in Bethnal Green in February.
Police claim Sheehan and Philip targeted Mrs Adams's home following a dispute with her grandson, who also lived at the address.
The long running dispute over a £15 debt came to a head during the early hours on February 22nd when a fight broke out between all three.
Immediately after the fight it is claimed Philip made threats to Mrs Adams' grandson - telling him he would burn his house down.
Later that night, Sheehan and Philip set fire to a motorcycle before heading to Mrs Adams's home and pouring petrol through the letter box and igniting it.
Mrs Adams and her granddaughter died in the blaze, with subsequent post-mortems giving their cause of death as smoke inhalation.
Commenting after today's verdict, Detective Inspector Larry Smith from the Metropolitan police said Sheehan and Philip had shown a "callous disregard for life" and praised those who gave evidence in the trial.