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The Independent UK
The Independent UK
National
Luke Reevey

Drugs gang torches 82-year-old widow’s home as she sleeps over family member’s debt

Police footage shows flames engulfing an 82-year-old widow's home as she slept inside, after four men torched the property on the orders of an overseas crime figure “over a debt linked to the victim’s family member.”

The gang drove from Weston-super-Mare to the victim's property in Ferndale, Wales in the early hours of 28 July 2025, where they used two jerry cans of petrol to set the grandmother's house ablaze.

With help from neighbours and officers, the victim was able to get out of the house safely.

The gang were pulled over on the A470 after a police officer spotted their getaway car which had previously been flagged as being used in the sale of drugs.

Connor Pitt, 24, Auryn Gustur, 19, Alfie Wheeler, 19, and Lewis Manito, 33, were all jailed for between nine and 18 years for the attack.

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