Arabic version: إقرار أربعة بالذنب في حريق متعمد استهدف سيارات إسعاف في غولدرز غرين
According to BBC News, four men have pleaded guilty to destroying four Jewish community ambulances in an arson attack in Golders Green, north-west London, which caused £1m of damage. Hamza Iqbal, 20, Rehan Khan, 19, Judex Atshatshi, 18, and Saif Ali, 18, admitted at the Old Bailey to destroying or damaging property while being reckless as to whether life would be endangered.
The attack occurred in the early hours of 23 March and targeted four vehicles operated by Hatzola, a volunteer-run charity serving Golders Green since 1979. The court heard that three of the men set fire to fully stocked ambulances while a fourth waited in a nearby car. Gas canisters exploded inside the vehicles after the fire was started.
Each ambulance was valued at £250,000. Four electrical charging stations and cables, costing about £5,000 each, were also damaged. Prosecutors had said they believed the incident was a targeted attack against the Jewish community. The Community Security Trust said the actions caused “immense shock and distress across the Jewish community” and described the attack as antisemitic.
Prosecutor Leo Seelig said the Crown Prosecution Service would argue at sentencing that the arson was related to terrorism. Mrs Justice Cheema Grubb said she would not rule on that issue at this stage, after defence counsel argued there was no evidence of such a connection. The four defendants were remanded in custody and are expected to be sentenced next spring, after the trial of Subhan Ahmed, who has denied assisting an offender.
The BBC reported that British intelligence chiefs initially kept an open mind about whether Iran or organisations working for it had a role in the ambulance attack and other attacks against Jewish communities during 2026. It said they later concluded that secret intelligence pointed to Iran or its proxies. US court papers allege that Iraqi militia commander Mohammad Baqer Saad Dawood al-Saadi was linked to attacks in London, including the ambulance destruction; US lawyers for him have previously said he is a political prisoner.
