Four Plead Guilty in Golders Green Ambulance Arson
Attack on Hatzola service caused £1 million in damages; further trial set for January.
Callum Smith
Four men admitted guilt at the Old Bailey for destroying four Jewish community ambulances in an arson attack.
The blaze, erupting in the early hours of March 23 in Golders Green, consumed Hatzola's vehicles and damaged four electrical charging stations along with their associated cables.
Gas canisters exploded during the incident, damaging a nearby synagogue and several flats.
Hamza Iqbal, Rehan Khan, Judex Atshatshi, and Saif Ali pleaded guilty to destroying or damaging property with reckless endangerment of life.
The arson attack caused £1 million of damage to the vehicles belonging to the Hatzola volunteer service.
The incident had a “terrorist connection.”
Prosecutors contend the incident constituted a targeted attack against the Jewish community; Leo Seelig claims the incident had a “terrorist connection.”
Three of the defendants are said to have set fire to the vehicles, while a fourth waited in a blue Toyota Avensis.
Ali had reportedly been in contact with someone in February to buy a blue Toyota Avensis and had researched online how much ambulances cost.
Ali reportedly sourced the Toyota used in the attack, with WhatsApp messages between him and a co-defendant relating to the purchase.
Upon his arrest, Ali threw his mobile phone out of the window.
A fifth defendant, Subhan Ahmed, pleaded not guilty to assisting an offender and will face trial on January 27 next year; Ahmed is alleged to have helped get rid of the car used in the attack.
Mrs Justice Cheema-Grubb ordered pre-sentence reports for Iqbal, Khan, Atshatshi, and Ali.
Sentencing is expected in spring 2027; the four defendants have been remanded in custody.
Counter-terror police had looked into the possible involvement of Iranian proxies in the Jewish ambulance arson, as well as other attacks on Jewish sites in London.
Most of these attacks have been claimed online by Harakat Ashab al-Yamin al-Islamia, the Islamic Movement of the Companions of the Right.