‘I failed them’: Agony of father whose wife and ‘little angel’ children were murdered in flat fire

A father has shared his agony over his last moments with his wife and children before they were murdered in a flat fire.

Aboubacarr Drammeh had been in America when he received the call to notify him that his two daughters Fatimah and Naeemah, aged three and one, had been killed and their mother, Fatoumatta Hydara, 28, was critically injured.

She died two days later of smoke inhalation after Jamie Barrow, 31, poured petrol through the letterbox of their home in Nottingham during the early hours of November 20.

Mr Drammeh addressed Nottingham Crown Court on Friday ahead of Barrow’s sentencing.

Speaking of his last moments with them, he recalled: “The kids were asleep, I leaned over the baby crib that was right next to the wall and I kissed Naeemah Drammeh on the forehead.

“I crawled on the bed and kissed Fatimah Drammeh on the forehead. Fatoumatta was standing at the door and in a very emotional voice said ‘a taxi is waiting’,” he continued.

“We hugged, and kissed, and exchanged ‘I love you’ I walked down the stairs and closed that door. Everything was normal, just as we had done countless times.”

He told the court that the family had been planning a move to America, and he had been due to return to the UK to help make arrangements.

“On that evening of November 19, the conversation was normal. I went to sleep, took a nap, went to bed at night and woke up for early morning prayers.

“While I was praying, my phone started ringing continuously. I thought it was Fatoumatta, wanting to FaceTime.

“We all know it wasn’t. It was my mother-in-law and my sister, so I called back my mother-in-law and she said there was an accident and the kids did not survive and Fatoumatta was in the ICU. But it wasn’t an accident, was it?”

He refers to Barrow, who has sat silent in the dock, as “a coward who knew exactly what he was doing and exactly when to do it”.

Describing his grief as a “life sentence”, he told Barrow: “You acted as the judge and the jury on that night and you brought this sentence on me.”

Mr Drammah returned to the UK and visited his wife as she was in intensive care, and shared the pain of having to identify his children’s bodies on his 40th birthday.

He says: “I was hopeless, and I was left helpless, because I didn’t have a family, and it was the people who mattered most to me. Since then, it has been a downward plunge into darkness and the unknown.

“It was unthinkable, it was unplanned, and I wish this on no one else, including you. Two little angels, their lifeless bodies laying next to each other. I held their whole hands. I wished I could switch with them.

“Only Allah knows why. I have to accept and prepare for the next chapter of my life. All I can say is I am sorry.

“I was not there, I should have been. I had a responsibility as a father and a husband to protect, that was my basic responsibility. I make no excuses.

Again addressing Barrow, Mr Drammeh says: “Because of you, and only you, I failed in my only responsibility as a father.”

Speaking of his family, he said that his wife had a “clear vision” to make their daughters “good citizens”, who respected society, their culture and their religion.

He says Nottingham has lost a “great human being” in Mrs Hydara, whom he met in Canada, and that his wife would have “helped without judging”.

He spoke of his daughter’s love for the Teletubbies and how his eldest would wave to the tram drivers in Nottingham, while enjoying pushing the trolley around their local Lidl store.

He spoke of his eldest daughter’s love for the Teletubbies and how his eldest would wave to the tram drivers in Nottingham, while enjoying pushing the trolley around their local Lidl store.

He says a backpack bought for Fatimah, found after the fire, “still smells of smoke”. He recalls how Fatimah remembered the names of tram stops in Nottingham, and sounds trams made.

“Because of you, and your actions, I find it difficult to ride a tram,” he says.

“Naeemah was just a baby. She enjoyed watching TV shows and CBeebies. They were typical British kids. We enjoyed the same things that you enjoyed.

He added that he had no hatred towards the defendant, and that his relationship with his family had taught him to become a “better person”.

Barrow was convicted of their murders following a trial at Nottingham Crown Court, in which he had denied knowing that the family were in the flat. He is being sentenced on Friday.