A FORMER postmistress who fled to Northern Cyprus after torching her family home, killing her brother, has been convicted of culpable homicide.
Shafquat Saleem, 39, was involved in starting the fire at the flat in Wester Hailes, Edinburgh, in 2001, in which Imran Saleem, 18, perished.
She was also found guilty of embezzling thousands of pounds from the Post Office where she worked in Stockbridge.
Police initially believed it was a race hate crime, but the attack came amid simmering family relations that led to the parents being thrown out of their previous home.
Saleem was detained last year after returning to the UK, having been living in Ercan, Northern Cyprus.
She had denied involvement in the fire, and instead incriminated her sister, Rafath Saleem, and a man named Aftab Ismail Khan.
Saleem was initially accused of murder, but the jury found her guilty of a reduced charge of culpable homicide.
She burst into tears as she was led handcuffed to the cells to await sentencing in the new year.
The accused's parents, Mohammed and Safia were living at the property at the time of the fire along with her brother Imran, sister Mussart, an uncle and a young child.
Mussart Saleem, 36, told jurors: "I heard a bang, opened the door and could hear the noise of the fire. I could hear screaming. My brother said that he was going to phone the fire brigade.
"My mum and dad came rushing to my room because there was a balcony and we thought we could jump down.
"The fire got too strong and my brother could not get out. Just before I jumped, I heard him screaming as he tried to get out of his room – but he could not."
Firefighters soon arrived on the scene, but Imran later died due to smoke inhalation.
The family had been staying at a property in Belmont Gardens in the Murrayfield area of Edinburgh before moving to Wester Hailes.
Mussart Saleem was paying the mortgage on the house, but oldest sister Rafath and brother Tanveer were named as owners of the property.
The court heard how Rafath wanted the family to sign a lease giving her control of whether they continued to live at the property.
When Mussart missed a couple of mortgage payments, Rafath was furious, prompting her to throw her relatives out of the property. Rafath had earlier fallen out with her parents because they wanted her to reconcile with her husband.
Arrest warrants had been originally issued in 2002 for the arrest of Shafquat Saleem, her sister Rafath and brother Tanveer in connection with the blaze.
Saleem stood trial charged with acting with others or another in pouring an accelerant through the letter box at the Barn Park flat and setting it alight.
Ian Duguid, QC, said yesterday said it was "inevitable" a jail-term would be imposed.
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