22-05-2025
EXCLUSIVE Horror moment family is forced to flee their home in the middle of the night after 'arsonist' targets cars and sparks an inferno
This is the terrifying moment a thug sets a businessman's cars on fire while his young children slept upstairs.
Chilling footage shows the masked man pouring a liquid over the £70,000 Range Rover, a 1994 Mitsubishi 3000 GTO sports car and a van, before setting them all on fire.
The vehicles spark into a terrifying blaze, lighting up the driveway in Marton, Middlesborough.
Gym owner Mark Hind MBE, 41, said the sight was 'like walking into a war zone' when he rushed out of his home to the horrifying scene - not even waiting to get dressed.
The father-of-three told MailOnline: 'My windows just were yellow. I screamed "Get out, get out now." All I could see was smoke.
'I turned back around and I thought, my family are in the house. I need to get them out.
'I will never get that scream from Skye out of my head for a million years. That scream. Whether you are a parent or not that scream was just absolute fear and I didn't know what to do.'
Choking back tears, he added: 'When I close my eyes I can see quite clearly what I saw last night. That will be what I see when I go to sleep and I don't think I will ever get rid of that.'
Mr Hind, his wife Jenny and their children Freddie, 16, Max, 12, and eight-year-old Skye were all in bed inside the home when the fire erupted, shortly after midnight.
Fire services told him that had he come down the stairs a minute longer the cars would have been engulfed in flame - and the house with it.
Mr Hind said: 'The fire brigade told me, had you not come out at that time this would have been a murder inquiry.'
Footage from the family's Ring doorbell camera shows Mr Hind sprinting naked from the house after the attacker, dressed in a hooded top, a checked jacket and luminescent shoes.
He had been watching TV in bed when he heard the camera alert and saw his windows 'engulfed in yellow' - saying that the noise 'saved my life'.
Confronted with the horrifying scene, he sprints back into his house, shouting desperately at his family to 'get out'.
His young daughter can be heard letting off a heart-wrenching scream as she sees the scene of destruction outside their home - before she is pulled away to safety.
Mr Hind confirmed the two cars had been written off. The Range Rover was bought for his wife a month ago, while the red Mitsubishi was Mr Hind's 'pride and joy'.
Restored to its original condition, he believes it was one of the best examples of his kind in Britain and is 'irreplacable'.
Fire services told him that had he come down the stairs a minute longer the cars would have been engulfed in flame - and the house with it
But he added: 'As much as it hurts me to say that, I can get a bike with two wheels and ride it. I can never replace a family member.'
Mr Hind has now been left terrified, watching the road from his window in case the man comes back.
He continued: 'It's been the worst 24 hours of my life. I can't understand for the life of me why they did it.
'I cannot physically sleep. I haven't slept a wink since this time last night. I've sat on the same chair that I sat on last night, and I haven't stopped looking out the window to make sure everything's okay for the past 24 hours.
'I feel vulnerable, alone, scared, worried. Every emotion of fear that you could feel is in my head right now. My family are all sleeping in bed and I have to try and somehow protect these people against somebody.
'I don't know who it is, I don't know why it is. I don't know the reasons. I don't know what's next.'
Mr Hind, a fitness coach, was awarded an MBE after providing food, essentials and PPE for the local community during the Covid pandemic.
His son, who has his GCSE exams this coming week, was by his side as they battled to calm the flames.
The blaze was finally brought under control as Mr Hind and his neighbor aimed a garden hose on the flames, before two Cleveland Fire Brigade appliances arrived at the scene
He continued: 'I cannot believe this. I can't believe some one would do this, what I have I ever done to hurt anyone? All I've ever done is try to help people.
'My kids are traumatised, I cannot tell you what is going through my mind right now.
'Jenny was in bed with Skye, Max was fast asleep and Freddie was in bed, I heard the ring alarm and then saw a flash.
'The cars I do not care about but my children and with were all asleep, I can not get what happened out of my head and that scream from Skye will stay with me forever.
'How can I take this memory away from my kids, we could all have not woken up this morning and that honestly breaks me to say it!'
The blaze was finally brought under control as Mr Hind and his neighbor aimed a garden hose on the flames, before two Cleveland Fire Brigade appliances arrived at the scene.
Cleveland police have the arsonist's jacket, which was left behind as he fled the scene.
Officers confirmed they had launched an investigation after the three cars were set alight and significantly damaged.
