Counterterrorism police officers in London have arrested eight people in connection with an alleged conspiracy to commit arson at a Jewish community institution, the Metropolitan Police said on Tuesday.
“While it is believed that the intended target of this conspiracy is a venue related to the Jewish community, the specific target or venue is not known,” according to a police statement.
The arrests follow the indictment of a 17-year-old male on Tuesday, allegedly for starting a fire on Saturday at the Kenton United Synagogue, which caused minor damage to a room, and no injuries.
The arrests are part of a police response to a string of arson incidents, including the torching on March 23 of four ambulances belonging to the Hatzola Jewish group in Golders Green, London.
Three of the eight arrests by Counter Terrorism Policing (CTP) detectives took place in Harpenden, north of London, on Sunday night, according to police. The detainees were aged 24, 25 and 26, police said, and they have been released on bail.
On Monday, police arrested a 25-year-old man in nearby Stevenage and three others, a 26-year-old man and two women aged 50 and 59, near Birmingham. On Tuesday, police arrested a 39-year-old man in Ealing in connection with an “investigation following the discovery of jars of a non-hazardous substance in Kensington Gardens,” according to the the police statement.
A search was “ongoing at a premise in east London,” police also said on Tuesday.
Since the attack on the Hatzola ambulances, a total of 23 people have been arrested in connection with that incident or similar ones, police also said. Eight people have been charged with arson-related offences, while 13 people remain in custody or on bail under active police investigation.
Referring to the latest string of arrests, Senior National Co-ordinator of Counter Terrorism Policing Deputy Assistant Commissioner Vicki Evans said on Tuesday, “We’ve made very clear that we will be relentless in our pursuit of anyone involved in carrying out or planning these arson attacks.
“One of our key lines of inquiry is whether criminal proxies—that is to say people being paid money to carry out a crime—are being used to commit any of these arsons. 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,” Evans warned.
She went on to say that the Counter Terrorism Policing unit has moreover dispatched forces to northwest London to support the Metropolitan Police in deterring further attacks and in providing reassurance to Jewish places of worship and businesses.
