HUDDERSFIELD MP Barry Sheerman is going to the top in his bid to bring justice to a grieving family.

He has meetings planned with Government ministers to try to track down the fugitive wanted for eight murders in Birkby.

Mr Sheerman wants assurances that everything possible will be done to bring Shahid Mohammed to justice.

He is thought to be hiding out in Pakistan, after fleeing detectives investigating the horrific petrol-bomb attack on a family’s home in Birkby in May 2002.

Now Mr Sheerman is putting pressure on the Government to liaise with the Pakistan authorities to get Mohammed back to Britain to face a court.

He has also condemned moves by a second man convicted of the Birkby killings to seek parole.

As revealed by the Examiner this week, Shakiel Shazad has applied for parole and will learn of his fate in March.

He was convicted of eight counts of manslaughter along with co-accused Nazar Hussain, who has already been freed.

A third man Shaied Iqbal was convicted of eight counts of murder and remains in jail, while Shahid Mohammed is on the run.

Mr Sheerman had a meeting with Attorney General Dominic Grieve to discus the case and enlist his support.

The MP said: “The Attorney General has promised he will look to do all he can to help bring the fugitive Mohammed back to face justice.

“We discussed the case at length and he is very supportive. Now I have meetings pencilled in with the Home Secretary and the Foreign Secretary to see what can be done about making arrangements with Pakistan as there is no current extradition treaty.

“As regards the parole bid by Shazad, I am appalled that he could be free.

“I told the Attorney General that this was an horrific case which generated a tremendous amount of community feeling in Huddersfield.

“We could now see a man convicted of the most shocking of crimes freed to live a life within spitting distance of the crime scene in Huddersfield and there are real fears that will increase community tension”.

The gang petrol-bombed the Chishti family’s home at Osborne Road while the occupants slept in the early hours of May 12, 2002.

Petrol was poured through the living room window, triggering a blaze which cost the lives of a mother, two of her children and her five grand-daughters.

Those killed in the fire included Nafeesa Aziz, 35, who perished with her five young daughters: Tayyaba Batool, 13; Rabiah Batool, 10; Ateeqa Nawaz, six; Aneesa Nawaz, two, and Najeeba Nawaz, six months.

Nafeesa’s brother, Mohammed Ateeq-ur-Rehman, 18, also died in the flames. Their mother, Zaib-u-Nisa, 54, died later in hospital after leaping from a window. Three other occupants were able to escape the conflagration.

The survivors are shocked that a second killer may now be freed.

Mohammed Shafiq, who leaped to safety from, the blazing house, said: “This is all so wrong. We cannot believe this.

“This man, like Nazar Hussain, could be out and living a normal life within weeks less than a decade after going to prison for taking eight lives.”