A group of men travelled from Weston-super-Mare to Ferndale and targeted the house over a drug debt
Shocking video has emerged showing the moment a devastating blaze ripped through a home in Ferndale after men poured petrol through a pensioner’s letterbox and window in the middle of the night.
Grandmother Carol Ford’s home was ruined after it was targeted in an arson attack over an unpaid drug debt.
In the video released by South Wales Police huge flames can be seen coming out of windows at the front of the property and a car parked opposite the home.
Officers can be heard knocking on doors in Protheroe Street in Ferndale, Rhondda Cynon Taf, to evacuate the street as they spoke about how it was going to be a “large evacuation process” and asked who lived in the neighbouring houses.
On Friday, April 10, four men were sentenced at Cardiff Crown Court over the attack which completed destroyed Ms Ford’s home of more than 60 years, gutted three cars, and caused considerable damage to the neighbouring homes. For the biggest stories in Wales first sign up to our daily newsletter here.
Alfie Wheeler, 19, Auryn Gustur, 19, Connor Pitt, 24, Lewis Manito, 33, all travelled from Weston-super-Mare to the street and targeted the house over a £137,000 drug debt Ms Ford’s grandsons Matthew and Gavin Ford owed.
Pitt, Gustur, and Wheeler were being sentenced after having pleaded guilty to arson with intent to endanger life while Manito pleaded guilty to arson being reckless as to whether life was endangered and perverting the course of justice by disposing of the vehicle he drove.
On July 27, 2025, the four men travelled from the seaside town in two vehicles. Manito drove Pitt while Gustur and Wheeler were driven by Wheeler’s partner Storm Truman. The court heard how she was being kept in the dark about the reason for the journey and was acquitted following a trial of a charge of arson being reckless as to whether life was endangered.
The men met up and Pitt left Manito’s vehicle with a petrol can before the three were driven to the property by Truman while Manito stayed in the area for support before disposing of his van.
In the early hours of July 28 the balaclava-clad men poured one petrol canister through the letterbox and a second through a window they had smashed.
Bodyworn footage from the incident showed police officers arriving at the scene at around 1.30am and rapidly evacuating nearby properties.
Firefighters can then be seen tackling the fire which filled the entire residential street with thick black smoke.
During the sentencing the court heard how Ms Ford luckily managed to flee her home just in time and how the fire service had to battle hard to save neighbouring properties.
In the 82-year-old pensioner’s victim impact statement the court heard how her only possession which survived the fire was her set of false teeth and she said money could never replace the memories she had lost through the devastating blaze.
Judge Paul Hobson told the defendants: “Your actions devastated the street and the people who lived there.”
The police footage also showed the four men being pulled over by police and arrested.
Pitt, of Canterbury Close in Weston-super-Mare, was handed an overall sentence of 18 years comprising 13 years in prison and an additional five-year licence period. Gustur, of Russell Avenue in Weston-super-Mare, was sentenced to 15 and a half years overall made up of a 10-and-a-half-year custodial term and five years on licence.
Wheeler, of Hosegood Drive in Weston-super-Mare, was sentenced to 13 years in total with eight years in custody and a five-year extended licence. Manito, of no fixed abode in Bridgend, was sentenced to nine years in prison.
















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