Four men appeared at London’s Central Criminal Court on Friday and entered guilty pleas for their roles in the destruction of four ambulances owned by Hatzola, a Jewish volunteer-led charity. The arson attack, which occurred in the early hours of March 23 in the Golders Green area of north London, resulted in the loss of vehicles valued at approximately 250,000 pounds, or $340,000, each.
The defendants who pleaded guilty were identified as Hamza Iqbal, 20, Rehan Khan, 19, and 18-year-olds Judex Atshatshi and Saif Ali. They faced charges of destroying or damaging property and being reckless as to whether life would be endangered. According to the prosecution, three of the men set fire to the fully stocked ambulances while a fourth individual waited in a getaway car. The ensuing blaze caused gas canisters stored within the vehicles to explode, which subsequently damaged a nearby synagogue and several apartments.
Justice Bobbie Cheema-Grubb stated that sentencing for these four men will take place in the spring of 2027, following the conclusion of a separate trial for another individual charged in the case. That defendant, 18-year-old Subhan Ahmed, pleaded not guilty to a charge of assisting an offender, specifically regarding allegations that he helped dispose of the vehicle used during the arson. Ahmed is scheduled to stand trial on January 27.
The incident has been widely characterized as a direct consequence of regional tensions following the start of the Iran war, specifically occurring in the weeks after the U.S. and Israel launched attacks on Iran on February 28. Prosecutor Leo Seelig suggested a potential “terrorist connection,” though no specific links to Iranian proxies were detailed in court. While counterterrorism police investigated the possibility of Iranian proxy involvement in this and other attacks on Jewish sites, the Iranian Embassy in the U.K. has categorically rejected any involvement in violent incidents within the country. Many of these attacks have been claimed online by a group calling itself Harakat Ashab al-Yamin al-Islamia, or the Islamic Movement of the Companions of the Right.
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