13 hours ago
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Matt MurrayBBC Wales, Cardiff Crown Court
BBC
Carol Ford said she did not know how she escaped the blaze
A woman accused of being part of a gang which torched and destroyed an elderly woman's home and acting as a "getaway driver" says she refused to go over 20mph near the scene as she did not want points on her driving licence.
Storm Truman, 19, told the court she was pregnant and drove three men including her boyfriend Alfie Wheeler to the address in Ferndale in the early hours of 28 July.
Cardiff Crown Court was previously told 82-year-old Carol Ford's home in Ferndale, Rhondda Cynon Taf, was targeted by arsonists as she slept because of a relative's drug debts.
Truman, from Weston-super-Mare, denies arson and being reckless as to whether life was endangered.
Connor Pitt, 23, Auryn Guster, 19, and Wheeler, 19, have previously pleaded guilty 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.
The prosecution previously told the jury Truman served the four men responsible for starting the fire as a "getaway driver", adding she was "just as responsible".
The court heard how Pitt had travelled separately in a van to Ferndale with Manito and got into the car that Truman was driving.
Asked by defence barrister Ruth Smith how she felt when Pitt got into the car, Truman said: "I was scared, he was sat in the back.
"Connor said we need to go somewhere else first and I asked, how long is this going to take?"
Truman told the jury she had to pick up her daughter in the morning, and did not want to take Pitt anywhere.
She previously told the court Pitt had a reputation in Weston-super-Mare "as a big name and someone you wouldn't mess with".
The defendant added she felt "anxious" and "scared" around Pitt, with "loads of thoughts running through my head, like what was going to happen to Alfie".
When Smith asked the defendant if she knew a Gavin Ford, the grandson of the owner of the house which was torched, or anyone in Ferndale, she said she did not.
Five properties were affected by the blaze in July
When Truman arrived at Ford's home on Protheroe Street, the court heard the men got out of the car and retrieved items from the boot.
She told the court she did not know or see what was taken out of her boot, and when she looked in her rear-view mirror she could see the men walking away.
She said: "The next thing I saw was fire coming out of the house and them running back to the car."
Truman described the situation as "chaotic" and said the men were shouting "drive, drive quickly".
"I punched Alfie in the face and said, 'what are you doing, you know I'm pregnant'," she said.
"I was scared. I'd never seen anything like this before in my life."
Truman told the court she felt a range of emotions because she was pregnant.
She said: "They all knew I was pregnant with Alfie's baby. I was angry, hurt, confused and scared."
When asked whether she was aware of the arson plan, the defendant replied: "No, never."
Truman described the atmosphere in the car as manic and said Pitt was trying to smash a phone, with others trying to change clothes and shoes being thrown out of a window.
After slowing down when entering a 20mph zone with a speed camera sign she said Pitt shouted at her "drive faster or we'll get bagged".
The defendant said she told him she was afraid to get points on her licence, explaining how she had a motability car due to a registered disability.
Pitt wanted to be dropped back at the van he had come in, she added, telling the court she refused to take him.
Police stopped and arrested the gang at Coryton in Cardiff.
