Hackney Fire arsonist charged, may not have had antisemitic motives

• Published date: 24 March 2024
• Author: MICHAEL STARR
• Publication title: Jerusalem Post, The: Web Edition Articles (Israel)

The 60-year-old man arrested on suspicion of arson near the scene of the midday Hackney borough blaze was charged with arson with intent to endanger life, possession of an imitation firearm with intent to cause fear of violence, and possession of an offensive weapon in a private place

"We are pleased that our thorough investigation has led the Crown Prosecution Service to agree on these significant charges," said Tower Hamlets and Hackney police commander Detective Chief Superintendent James Conway. "To protect the integrity of the judicial process and to ensure justice for the victims and our community, we are rightfully limited in what we can now say. However, we will continue to engage with our close partners in the local community, including the Community Security Trust (CST) and Shomrim to support those impacted by this incident."

Conway said on Thursday that it was working with the two Jewish community groups after the arsonist had reportedly made "a number of threatening comments, some of which were allegedly antisemitic," upon arrest.

"We take instances of antisemitism extremely seriously and for this reason we're investigating the incident as a potential hate crime," said Conway in a Thursday police statement. "Whilst the investigation will continue to explore the motivation for this offence, we believe at this stage that this was centered on a localized housing-related issue.

We have no indication, at this very early stage, that the motivation was connected with any specific local or global events."

Three of the people wounded in the fire were...