Moment family’s home and cars are set alight by masked machete-wielding arsonists in ‘unprovoked attack’
Two masked attackers set fire to a couple’s home and cars in Broughty Ferry, Dundee, in an attack captured by their Ring doorbell. The couple escaped without injury, but say the damage has left them fearful the attackers could return.
The pair woke at about 3am on 1 October to find their front door being doused with flammable liquid. Footage shows one attacker carrying a canister and another holding a machete; the fire damaged the entrance and garden, smashed a window and destroyed both cars, one of which held the couple’s wedding photographs. Police Scotland is investigating.
In short
- Masked attackers set fire to a Dundee couple’s home and cars.
- Doorbell footage shows one carrying a canister and another a machete.
- The couple escaped injury, but their two cars were destroyed.
Explained simply
Broughty Ferry is a coastal suburb of Dundee, in eastern Scotland. Police Scotland is the national police service responsible for investigating crimes there.
Arson is the deliberate setting of a fire, and attacks on homes can put residents at risk even if no one is hurt. Damage to a home and possessions can also have a lasting personal impact, particularly when items with family memories are lost.
Doorbell cameras such as Ring can record activity outside a home and provide footage to investigators. Police may use such recordings as part of an inquiry, alongside other evidence, to establish who was involved and what happened.