Gang offered '£500 each' to torch elderly woman's home, court told

A woman accused of being part of a gang which torched and destroyed an elderly woman's home has told a court her then-partner said they would get paid to "put a brick through a window".

Storm Truman, 19, said Alfie Wheeler told her the group would be paid £500 each for throwing a brick on 28 July 2025.

Cardiff Crown Court was previously told 82-year-old Carol Ford's home in Ferndale, Rhondda Cynon Taf, was targeted by arsonists while she slept over a relative's drug debts.

Truman, from Weston-super-Mare, denies arson and being reckless as to whether life was endangered.

Three men - Connor Pitt, 23, Auryn Guster, 19, and Wheeler, 19 - have previously admitted to arson with intent to endanger life.

Another man, Lewis Manito, 32, pleaded guilty to arson and being reckless as to whether life was endangered, and of perverting the course of justice.

On Wednesday, a witness statement by Ford, who lived alone at the property, was read to the jury, said she did not know how she escaped the blaze.

The prosecution said Truman served the four men responsible for starting the fire as a "getaway driver", adding she was "just as responsible".

Five properties, including Ford's, were affected by the blaze which broke out in Protheroe Street in the early hours of the morning.

Speaking during her defence on Thursday, Truman said Wheeler asked her to drive him and the two others on 27 July, adding it was to "brick through a window locally".

Truman told the jury she did not want to do it, but that Wheeler was texting to say it would be £500 each and if they do not agree "they'll get someone else to do it".

Truman said she texted saying "sort someone else out", but told the court she was "frightened" for his safety if she did not drive as he had been stabbed months earlier.

Truman told the court she wanted to see her daughter early the next morning, but Pitt told Wheeler they had to travel late at night.

When she drove to Ferndale they met with Pitt, adding the journey from Weston-super-Mare to Wales had been "silent".

She told the court: "I was scared they were going to kidnap Alfie and kill him. All those thoughts were going through my head when I saw the van."

She said Manito put something from the back of the van into her car boot. She said she asked Wheeler what it was but "he just shrugged and said I don't know".

Truman said Wheeler, who was her "on-off boyfriend", worked for Pitt and Guster selling drugs until Wheeler was stabbed in March 2025, and restarted working for them in the summer.

She told the court she was "scared something bad" would happen to Wheeler again if he travelled alone with the two men, and Pitt had a reputation in Weston-Super-Mare "as a big name and someone you wouldn't mess with".

Truman is set to continue giving evidence on Friday.

The trial continues.