Four men admit £1m arson attack that destroyed ambulances and damaged synagogue
Around £1million of damage was caused after the vehicles were set alight on Highfield Road in north London shortly after 1.35am on March 23.
Hamza Iqbal, 20, Rehan Khan, 19, Judex Atshatshi, and Saif Ali, both aged 18, pleaded guilty to a charge of destroying or damaging property being reckless whether life would be endangered.
Three out of the four defendants were said to have set fire to the fully stocked vehicles, while the other waited in a blue Toyota Avensis, the Old Bailey heard.
The resulting blaze caused gas canisters inside the ambulances to explode and nearby flats and a synagogue were also damaged by the fire.
Six fire engines and 40 firefighters rushed to the scene near the Mchzike Hadath synagogue to put out the raging flames.
Prosecutor Emma Harraway told an earlier court hearing: "There is significant evidence that this was a premeditated and targeted attack against the Jewish community."
Police said afterwards that no one was injured but he ambulances, which belonged to Hatzola, a volunteer-led ambulance service operating in the Golders Green area, were said to cost between £240,000 and £250,000 each.
Four electrical charging stations and cables costing approximately £5,000 each were also damaged during the incident.
An Islamist militant group linked to Iran originally claimed responsibility for the attack, but security experts said there was no evidence to verify the claim.
Iran’s embassy in the UK said it “categorically rejects” allegations of involvement in “violent activities or incidents in the United Kingdom”.
On his arrest on April 1, Ali threw his mobile phone out of the window, the court was previously told.
The defendant, then aged 17, had been in contact with someone in February with a view to buying a blue Toyota Avenisis and had done research online about how much ambulances cost.
Mrs Justice Cheema-Grubb ordered pre-sentence reports for Iqbal and Khan, from Leyton, east London, Atshatshi, from Dagenham, east London, and Ali, of dual British-Pakistani nationality, from Walthamstow.
The synagogue, which is one of the oldest in Europe, had its roof damaged and stained glass windows smashed in the fire, and residents were evacuated as a precaution.
Sentencing will take place next Spring.
Politics Editor
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