Struggling to sleep after daughter’s car set on fire
ayoung@thekmgroup.co.uk A mother has spoken of her distress after yobs deliberately caused an inferno at the family home while her three children slept.
The 39-year-old and her husband, 44, returned from a short trip away to discover trespassers had climbed into their gated grounds in Bearsted and set fire to their eldest child’s car.
In CCTV footage released this week, two people are seen approaching the black Ford Ka in the early hours of Thursday, November 6, when one of them smashes the rear windscreen.
The second offender then throws a petrol bomb at the vehicle, causing it to burst into flames just yards from the front door.
The car, which was destroyed, belonged to couple’s 17-year-old daughter who was inside the Crismill Lane property with her three sisters, aged 16, 10 and seven, and their grandmother.
Her mother said: “It’s frightened all of the girls. They’re struggling to sleep at night as they keep thinking they can hear things, we all do. The fire was so close to the house my mum said you could feel the heat from inside.”
The blaze, which also damaged a Range Rover parked on the drive, was spotted at around 1.45am by police patrolling the Ashford Road area. The officers called the fire brigade, as did the CCTV company which monitors the property.
The car was still smouldering when the couple, who have chosen to stay anonymous, arrived home after landing at 6.30am.
“We’ve racked our brains trying to think who would do such a callous act to us but there’s no one. It’s completely unprovoked,” said the mum.
She added: “We won’t let these people scare us out of our home.”
Investigating officer PC Fay Coleman said: “The footage shows a person standing very close to the vehicle when it bursts into flames, so it is possible he or she may have suffered burns.
“Perhaps someone you know came home that night with injuries they couldn’t account for.”
Anyone with information is asked to call PC Coleman on 07807 340154 quoting crime reference YY/022465/14. Alternatively people can call Kent Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555111.