Woman killed in Leicester shop explosion 'knew too much about insurance plot', court hears

A woman who died with four other people after a shop explosion in Leicester was in on a plot to make a £300,000 insurance claim on a fire at the property, a court has heard.

A jury at Leicester Crown Court was told Viktorija Ljevleva, 22, was left to die by her boyfriend and two other alleged co-conspirators because she "knew too much".

Ms Ljevleva was killed in the blast at the Zabka Polish supermarket in Hinckley Road in Leicester on 25 February, along with Mary Ragoobeer, 46, her sons Shane, 18, and Sean, 17, and Shane's girlfriend Leah Beth Reek, 18, who were all in the flat above.

The three men on trial for the murder of all five victims are Ms Ljevleva's partner Arkan Ali, 37, the supermarket's leaseholder Aram Kurd, 33, and Hawkar Hassan, 32.

Prosecuting barrister David Herbert QC said the explosion was caused by "many many litres of petrol" and was so powerful it demolished the entire building.

The court watched three CCTV recordings of the explosion from three different angles, one of which showed debris being thrown across the main road with dust and smoke filling the street.

Mr Herbert told the jury: "It was no accident that the petrol used caused so much damage - that was their intention."

The jury was told the three men "knew people would be at home in the flat above the shop at the time of the explosion - that fact didn't bother the defendants one bit as they sought to maximise the damage caused to the shop premises."

Ms Ljevleva is alleged to have conspired with the defendants by helping them to buy an insurance policy on the shop which was not making much money.

But Mr Herbert said that the three men "thought she knew too much and decided to leave her to perish in the fire".

All three men deny all the charges against them, and the trial is expected to last for at least five weeks.