Shocking moment man douses front door of family’s house with petrol and then sets it on fire
- Attacker pours petrol on door of family home in Hamilton, Leicester at 10.40pm
- He then sets door on fire and jumps away from the flames as they quickly grow
- Man who lives in property said his mother had been home at the time of attack
This is the terrifying moment a man pours petrol on a front door and sets fire to it as a family sit inside.
In the CCTV clip, filmed in Leicester, a man can be seen entering the family’s yard and pouring a liquid, later found to be petrol, on the ‘heavy duty’ door.
He then sets the door alight and makes a hasty exit, jumping away from the growing flames as they lick around the frame.
In the CCTV clip, filmed in Leicester, a man is seen entering a family’s home and dousing the door with petrol
A man who lives in the property said he had returned home after the same man threw a jam jar at his door while his mother was alone 20 minutes earlier.
It is believed this jar contained a flammable liquid which failed to ignite.
The pair had been watching a CCTV clip of the earlier incident when the unknown man then set their door on fire.
The resident said: ‘She heard a big bang on the door. I’m the only person who would have been coming and going at that time, so she called to see if it was me.
‘It wasn’t, so I went home. About 20 minutes later, while we are still watching the CCTV footage on rewind, we hear another noise.
The man sets the door on fire and makes a hasty exit, jumping away from the growing flames
‘I looked at the pane of glass by the door and all I can see is flames. I opened the door a bit but it was well alight.
‘Very soon, flames were coming through the door. We called the fire brigade and they told us to get out, but me and my mum grabbed some wet towels and water and put the flames out.
‘We only saw the guy starting the fire on the CCTV later on when we watched it back.
‘The door frame and the door, which is heavy duty, were all damaged by the fire.
The family said they do not recognise the man and police have appealed to the public for help
‘We have no idea who this guy is, or why he has done this. If my mum had been in bed asleep she’d never have known what was happening. She could have been killed.’
Leicestershire Police confirmed investigations are underway into the alleged arson attack.
The force said a black saloon car was spotted near to the address between 10.20pm and 10.40pm on January 16 and may be linked.
Detective Constable Matthew Garside, who is leading the investigation, said: ‘The family are understandably upset and extremely lucky that those inside didn’t sustain any injury.
‘This was a dangerous act which could have had far worse consequences and a different outcome had the fire had spread further within the property.
‘There is a possibility that the man responsible sustained burns to his face and this is something I would ask people to be aware of.’