An arsonist targeted a Maidenhead house with children inside – before reversing a car towards the police.

Kamran Ali threw a number of bottles filled with flammable liquid at the Moor Lane property while the occupants were inside, causing damage to the building.

A court heard from the 23-year-old and then left at high speed following the incident on November 2, 2020 and threw another bottle on the road.

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He then damaged the door and window of a property in Switchback Close before attempting to leave, during which he damaged a parked car and repeatedly crashed into another vehicle.

Ali drove at high speed with a flat tire to Colliers Close where he stopped and was located by two police officers and backed up.

The two managed to pull away, but Ali collided with a garden fence and concrete posts and locked himself in his car.

He then assaulted a police officer when the police managed to get him out of the vehicle.

At Reading Crown Court on September 8, Ali, of Bromford Lane, Birmingham, was sentenced to an extended sentence of seven years in prison and banned from driving for 18 months after the end of his sentence.

At a previous hearing on Jan. 28, he pleaded guilty to one count of arson, dangerous driving, criminal damage and assault on a rescuer.

“Scary incident” for the family

Investigating Officer Detective Constable Arshid Ali, based at Maidenhead Police Station, said: “’It was a frightening incident for the occupants of the attacked property. There were three generations of a family inside of which one of the children was only four and a half years old.

“The attack was carried out with Ali knowing that the property was occupied and that there was a real likelihood of serious injury, but luckily no one was injured.

“Ali has pleaded guilty in an earlier hearing and the sentence handed down by the court reflects the gravity of the offense.”

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