Hisamuddin Ibrahim

Ibrahim lived at home in Shelly Avenue, London, with his parents, just a five minute walk through Plashet Park to Iqbal's house in Strone Road. He had a good job earning £38,000 a year working as a signals operator on the London Underground.

The shift patterns of the job meant he would get two-week breaks at a time and use them to travel up to Lancashire to see family three or four times a year.

He described himself as 'six out of ten' in terms of the strength of his religious beliefs and his family had not wanted to disturb him during the month of Ramaddan, despite grave concerns about his sister's behaviour. He was deeply focused about leading prayers as a Hafiz at his local mosque because he had to memorise the whole Koran.

In his spare time, Hafija said her brother was an 'Internet freak' and would scour the web reading about news, politics, shares and also watched a lot of television.

She said: “He spends his leisure time surfing the internet. He just works and doesn't have much of a social life.”

Just seven days before the fire, he researched a Crimewatch appeal of a night-time arson attack in Eastbourne, which killed two people.

Maybe this inexperience in planning and committing such a grave crime gives a clue as to how it went so horribly, fatally wrong.

Habib Iqbal

Portrayed as a loyal, doting friend of Ibrahim's and part of a group which holidayed together in 2007.

He lived just a few streets away from the Ibrahim family home and prayed five times a day, often with Ibrahim at the Katherine Road Mosque in Forest Gate.

Iqbal was a man who would indeed do almost anything for Ibrahim.

Co-defendent Mohammed Miah said Iqbal had an aggressive, dark side. According to Miah's interviews with police, Iqbal confessed to starting the fire but 'not meaning to kill anyone' then threatened him and his brothers to 'stick to the story'.

The evidence points towards Iqbal starting the fire.

In Iqbal’s own evidence, he claimed to have told Mohammed Junaid Miah to pour a little petrol outside the front door, then stood a few doors down, taking no part. He claimed Miah had not done as asked, and had instead poured the fuel through the letterbox and ignited it.

Known in his neighbourhood as a talented boxer, he was described by one defence barrister as a ‘fox who is as quick in witness box and he is in the ring’.

Sadek Miah

'Sid' was recruited by Iqbal to be the driver because Iqbal had written his car off.

He pleaded guilty ahead of the trial on the basis that he was there, but didn't start the fire.

The Bangledeshi-born 23-year-old university student, nicknamed 'Sid', moved to East London with his family as a toddler. One of eight siblings – six sisters, one brother – he had, and still has, a steady girlfriend with a decent public sector job.

His family are 'more westernised', particularly his sisters, and all are free to choose their own partners.

Sadek was balancing his final year of a full-time degree in computer networks with at least 15 hours a week working part time in Tesco. He had hopes of working as a network engineer for a company such as Virgin.

In his forthright evidence, which lasted three whole days, Sadek claimed that his reluctance to go to Blackburn to start a fire to 'scare' Mo Ibrahim was allayed by Iqbal's assurances that the target house would be empty.

Mohammed Junaid Miah

Miah, the youngest of the gang at 19 is known as 'Crazy' to his pals, and 'came along for the drive' because Sadek wanted entertainment on the long trip.

But instead of accompaniment, Miah became an accomplice, literally carrying the can for the horrific deaths of an innocent couple trapped in a fire he had helped start.

Miah was part way through a jobseekers programme and on the Tuesday had been up to Barking Road, East Ham for help with finding a job and preparing for interviews.

It was alleged that Miah was the man seen on CCTV swinging a petrol can as the three men stalked towards 175 London Road . He was said to have poured the fuel into the letter box and other defendants suggested he may have poured 'too much'.

During the trial, Sadek apologised to Mohammed Miah, saying: “I do owe him an apology because if I hadn't called him up and brought him with me on that day, he wouldn't be here now.”