Smithy Family: Police search for car in arson investigation
25 August 2021, 14:42
Police have released images of a car they want to locate in connection to an arson attack on TikTok influencers the Smithy Family.
The car, which has a noticeable dent in the front right wheel arch, is believed to be in the south-east London area including Welling, Bexleyheath, Dartford or Greenwich, the Metropolitan Police said.
Detectives want to identify the car and its owner as it is believed to have been used in connection with the incident.
Emergency services were called to the car fire in Welling shortly after 11pm on 14 July.
Police and the London Fire Brigade attended the scene and the fire was extinguished by 12.30am.
The Smithy Family - which currently has 3.3 million followers on TikTok and 299.4 million likes - confirmed in posts on Facebook and TikTok that it was their vehicle that had been set alight and that no one was injured.
The incident is being treated as arson but no arrests have been made as of yet.
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In a TikTok video shared on Tuesday, father Nick Smithy said the family had "been to hell and back".
"We shouldn't have to be on here to prove our innocence, that shouldn't be the case at all," he said.
"But we are, we're having to do this now, because of these sick, vile people who are twisted enough to think that someone would do that.
"We wouldn't [do that]. Why would I burn my home down after doing all of that work?
"It annoys me how some very small minded, minority people think.
"We've been to hell and back, and we've done nothing to deserve that."
Following the police's appeal, the family explained on their Facebook page that they were still looking over their shoulders and "questioning everything and everyone".
Detective Sergeant Danny Banks, from the Serious and Complex Investigations Unit, said: "A team of officers have been working diligently to establish the circumstances of this incident.
"I thank everyone who has already come forward to the police.
"We are now focusing our investigation on the car pictured and wish to identify it as soon as possible.
"If you recognise it, please come forward and speak to us. No piece of information is too small and could significantly help us in our investigation to establish who is responsible for this attack."
Anyone with information should call the police on 101 quoting CAD 8350 of July 14.
