Two 17-year-olds jailed for 10 years over petrol arson attack on Gants Hill restaurant

Left · 2Two 17-year-olds were jailed at the Old Bailey on Friday 2 October over an arson attack on the Indian Aroma restaurant in Gants Hill, east London, in which customers were set on fire. 1 2 Left · 2They were convicted of arson with intent to endanger life and having a bladed article, and Judge Michael Grieve KC gave each an extended sentence of 10 years' custody with a three-year extended period. 1 2 Left · 2The court heard the pair, armed with weapons described as machetes, long knives and swords, entered the restaurant at around 9pm on 22 August last year with a third person, who emptied canisters of petrol onto the floor and tables. 1 2

Left · 2The group backed out and held the door "mostly shut" while a slip of paper was lit, causing an "explosion"; they then fled in a stolen car, and six London Fire Brigade vehicles attended. 1 2 Left · 2Prosecutor James Dawes KC said the eight diners were ordered to stay seated and threatened, that each attacker had a separate, well-defined role, and that lighting the petrol while customers were "frozen in terror" guaranteed burns. 1 2 Left · 2One woman was put in a medically induced coma with her clothing melted to her skin, and had burns to 50% of her body surface, 45% of them full-thickness; her husband, seen running out on fire, had mixed-depth burns to 51% and said he "woke up 45 days after being burnt". 1 2

Left · 2Judge Grieve called the attack a "sophisticated and professional operation" with a "high degree" of planning, said the defendants knew the near-inevitable consequence was serious harm up to death, and said he had no doubt they acted on the direction of an older, more experienced criminal who has not been identified. 1 2 Left · 2The judge said that, having reviewed CCTV, an earlier suggestion that petrol was poured directly onto a customer's back was perhaps "questionable", but that petrol was "liberally spread around" on the chairs where customers sat. 1 2 Left · 2In mitigation, Mark Graffius KC invited the judge to infer that his client was subject to ongoing exploitation up to the offence, and Nneka Akudolu KC said her client was sorry and had been told the restaurant would be empty. 1 2

Left · 2The teenagers denied the offences but were convicted after a six-week trial earlier this year; one had pleaded guilty to failing to disclose a PIN, and the third person was not part of the trial or sentencing. 1 2