Jamie Barrow admitted starting the fire which killed Fatimah Drammeh, three, Naeemah Drammeh, one, and their mother Fatoumatta Hydara, 28, but denied murder by claiming he was unaware they were home at the time.

However Nottingham Crown Court heard he would have known they were inside because a pram had been left outside the front door and light was coming from the hallway of the first-floor flat.

Prosecutors also said he ignored the screams of those trapped inside and "did nothing to help" as the blaze took hold.

Ms Hydara's husband and the girls' father, Aboubacarr Drammeh, said Barrow had been "utterly heartless and cruel" and had caused "a multigenerational trauma that we will never understand".

Reading out a family statement following the verdict, he added: "Words cannot quantify how much our family have suffered because of the horrific actions of one man.

"Neither can we quantify the emotional, psychological, physiological and financial impact of the crime Jamie Barrow committed."

The 31-year-old, who lived in the neighbouring flat in Fairisle Close, previously pleaded guilty in April to the manslaughter of the trio on 20 November last year in Clifton, Nottingham.

The girls were pronounced dead at hospital shortly after the blaze broke out just after 3am, while their mother died two days later from the effects of smoke inhalation.

Barrow, who admitted he drank "seven or eight" cans of San Miguel lager before the attack, started the fire after pouring petrol through the flat's letterbox.

Prosecutors said he had a "grievance" over rubbish being left in an alleyway.

Some members of the victims' family wept as the jury of seven men and four women unanimously convicted him of murder after almost seven hours of deliberations.

Barrow, who remained silent throughout, was also found guilty of arson being reckless as to whether life was endangered.

A 'cruel and dangerous man'

Mr Drammeh was away working in the USA on the night of the blaze and previously told how he had to identify their bodies in a mortuary on his 40th birthday.

The mother and her children were planning to join him and relocate to America at the time of the tragedy, and were reportedly close to the end of their visa application process.

Mr Drammeh said his wife of eight years, a former voluntary worker, had lived a "short but a very beautiful and fulfilling life", and said his daughters were "both really happy children".

The family statement on Tuesday also described the girls as "two angels who deserved a beautiful childhood and a full life".

They added: "Nottingham and the rest of the world have been denied potential future teachers, civil servants, doctors - who knows what they could have been?"

Detective Chief Inspector Clare Dean, of Nottinghamshire Police's major crime unit, described Barrow as a "cruel and dangerous man".

He said following the verdict: "This is a tragic case in which a caring and compassionate mother and two young children were taken away in the cruellest way imaginable.

"The loss of Fatoumatta, Fatimah and Naeemah was utterly senseless and, as a result, their family have experienced pain and distress which cannot be adequately described or even imagined."

Barrow will be sentenced on Friday.