Littlehampton arson victims relive night of terror

Mark Loten, of Dorset Close, Littlehampton was woken by the horrified screams of his wife, Jacqueline, early on Monday morning, as she saw flames erupting from the bonnet of his Daewoo Tacuma – which was just feet away from their open bedroom window.

The unemployed 50-year-old said he was in a state of panic has he rallied to evacuate his children from the home.

“I didn’t know what was going to happen,” admitted Mark. “I thought that the car was about to explode.

“The flames were so high and were very fierce. I thought we could die. My first thought was to get the children out and to safety.”

The fire soon spread to part of the property’s wooden lean-to, on the side of the house.

The family, dressed in the pyjamas, fled the house to the safety of the back garden, standing on the decking to watch as 10ft-high flames rose from the fire.

Knowing his loved ones were safe, Mark rushed back inside and tried to find a fire extinguisher.

He said: “Panic gripped me. It was very difficult to think. I wanted to get to my fire extinguisher, which was locked away, but I kept using the wrong keys.

“At the time, my mind was all over the place and I thought someone had glued the lock shut.”

Firefighters from Littlehampton rushed to the scene, at around 1.40am, and soon quelled the flames.

However, the damage was done. The blaze has written-off Mark’s car and has caused substantial damage to the property’s lean-to, which is used as a ‘chill-out zone’ for family and friends.

Mark believes this was a targeted and deliberate attack. In the past few years, he has been the victim of crime on five separate occasions, with the latest incident, a burglary, taking place last year.

Inspector Nick Bowman, of Sussex Police, said the force was doing everything it could to trace the offenders, adding that victim support and crime prevention advice had been given to the family.

However, he added police were not connecting the arson to previous thefts at the property.

Insp Bowman said: “We are actively investigating an arson on a car in Dorset Close, Littlehampton.

“The owner had suffered a burglary a year before when a drill was stolen from his car port. The drill has been recovered and a man has been charged; he is due to appear before court in August.

“The victim has also reported other offences to police, namely a shed break-in, the theft of golf clubs from a car port and theft of food from a freezer.

“We are in regular contact with the victim and are supporting him with crime prevention advice.

“There is no evidence to suggest that the arson is linked to any of the previous incidents.”

Anyone with information about the arson should call police on 101.