Two Weston-super-Mare men already serving long sentences for setting fire to a grandmother’s home in Ferndale have now been sentenced for dealing cocaine and cannabis.
Auryn Gustur and Alfie Wheeler, both 20, were each given 32 months’ detention in a young offender institution when they returned to Cardiff Crown Court on Thursday. Judge Paul Hobson ordered the terms to run concurrently with the sentences the pair are already serving for the arson in Protheroe Street.
What police found
Officers went to the homes of both men after their arrests over the fire. The searches uncovered:
- drug paraphernalia
- traces of cocaine and cannabis
- packaging that had been used to hold substances in quantities measured in kilograms
Phone evidence
Both men’s mobile phones were seized. Messages on the handsets suggested the pair had been working together between November 2024 and July 2025 to build up a drug supply business.
The court categorised their roles as “street dealers” selling drugs for financial gain. Gustur and Wheeler later pleaded guilty to being concerned in the supply of class A and class B controlled drugs.
The arson attack
The two men were first sentenced in April, together with Connor Pitt and Lewis Manito, over the attack on the home of Carol Ford.
The court has heard Mrs Ford’s house was targeted because of a £137,000 drug debt owed by her grandsons, Matthew and Gavin Ford.
In July 2025, the four men set off from Weston-super-Mare, the seaside town near Bristol, in two vehicles. Manito drove Pitt, while Gustur and Wheeler were driven by Wheeler’s partner, Storm Truman. The court heard she had been kept in the dark about the reason for the journey.
When the two vehicles met up, Pitt got out of Manito’s vehicle with a petrol can. Truman then took the group on to Ferndale, while Manito stayed in the area for support before disposing of his van, the court was told.
In the early hours of 28 July 2025, three of the men approached Mrs Ford’s home wearing balaclavas and carrying two petrol canisters. One was thrown through the letterbox and the other through a window they had smashed, while Gustur filmed what was happening.
The damage
Mrs Ford had lived in the house for more than 60 years. It was completely destroyed.
The fire also gutted three cars. Neighbours had to leave their homes in the middle of the night as the fire service fought hard to save nearby properties.
The damage to the properties was valued at £771,750. That figure does not include the three vehicles destroyed outside.
Sentences already being served
Gustur, of Russell Avenue, Weston-super-Mare, is serving 10 years and six months for the arson, with an extended licence period of five years.
Wheeler, of Hosegood Drive, Weston-super-Mare, is serving eight years for the arson, also with a five-year extended licence period.
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