Boy, 17, pleads guilty to synagogue arson attack

A 17-year-old boy has pleaded guilty to arson not endangering life after an attack on a synagogue in north-west London on Saturday night.

The plea on Tuesday came as seven people were arrested over an alleged separate plan to commit an arson attack targeting the Jewish community, the Metropolitan Police said.

The teenager, a British national from Brent who cannot be named for legal reasons, was arrested by the Met Police on Sunday after a bottle containing a type of accelerant was thrown through the window of Kenton United Synagogue on Shaftesbury Avenue, Kenton, on Saturday night.

Minor damage was caused to the building, although no injuries were reported.

Jewish charity the Community Security Trust said the attack on Kenton United Synagogue caused minor smoke damage to an internal room but there were no injuries or significant structural damage.

At Westminster Magistrates' Court, District Judge Nina Tempia freed the teenager on bail with conditions including to live and sleep at his home address and to not enter any synagogue.

He is scheduled to appear at Willesden Youth Court on 4 June.

A 19-year-old man who was also arrested after the attack was released on bail pending further inquiries, the Met said.

On Tuesday, Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer said the Government "won't relent in our fight against antisemitism and terror".

Since late March, there have been a series of arson attacks, including Jewish community ambulances that were targeted in Golders Green, two synagogues and a former Jewish charity. Another incident involved a drone which was flown near the Israeli embassy.

Officers from Counter Terrorism Policing London said on Tuesday they had arrested three men aged 24, 25 and 26 in Harpenden, Hertfordshire, on Sunday, over an alleged plan to commit an arson attack targeting the Jewish community.

The specific target or venue was not known, the force said.

The men were later released on police bail.

On Monday, a 25-year-old man was arrested in Stevenage, while a 26-year-old man and two women aged 50 and 59 were arrested in a car in Birmingham. They remain in custody at a London police station.

Separately, a 39-year-old man was arrested in Ealing on Tuesday under the Terrorism Act, in connection with an investigation into jars of a non-hazardous substance found in Kensington Gardens on 17 April. He remains in custody.

Officers have arrested a total of 23 individuals since the first attack on a place linked to Jewish communities, or those who oppose the Iranian regime.

Deputy Assistant Commissioner Vicki Evans, the senior national co-ordinator of Counter Terrorism Policing, said: "We've made very clear that we will be relentless in our pursuit of anyone involved in carrying out or planning these arson attacks."

She added that officers were investigating a "key line of inquiry" into the use of criminal proxies - people being paid money to carry out arson attacks.

Evans said: "While our investigations into this are still ongoing, my message to anyone even considering getting involved in this type of activity is this, the stakes are high and it is absolutely not worth the risk."

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