Harrowing footage showed diners fleeing as flames engulfed the restaurant
Two teenagers sent diners running for their lives in a fireball attack on a packed Indian restaurant in East London – leaving two customers with critical burns.
Footage of the fire attack at Indian Aroma on Woodford Avenue, Gants Hill, on the evening of Friday, August 22, shows the pair, who cannot be named due to their ages, dressed in black and armed with machetes as they stormed the venue.
One teen, 17, taunted innocent customers while his accomplice, also 17, stood ready with a lighter as petrol was poured indiscriminately over the restaurant. Once surfaces were doused, the teenager lit the taper which ignited a fireball that quickly ripped through the establishment.
CCTV showed diners running for their lives as flames consumed the restaurant within a second, leaving two people with critical burns and others severely wounded.
Met Police investigators found footage of the suspects fleeing the scene, before piling into a nearby Toyota Prius. Further footage from CCTV and traffic cameras showed the car travelling to and from Peckham earlier that evening.
After leaving south London at 7.07pm, the vehicle made its way to Barkingside, where CCTV showed it parking near a supermarket. One of the defendants left the vehicle and walked to a petrol station where he stole several litres of petrol by pouring it into cannisters.
The car then drove to Gants Hill where the attack took place.
Within weeks, detectives located the Prius, which had been stolen before the incident. Inside the vehicle, they discovered the spout to one of the petrol cannisters used in the offence. Mobile phones were also found, which enabled officers to identify the suspects.
Police arrested the teenagers two weeks after the attack and recovered clothing – including a pair of trainers and a balaclava – which proved to be a match to those seen on CCTV.
The teens have now been found convicted of arson with intent to endanger life, following a seven-week trial at the Old Bailey The 17-year-olds were also convicted of possession of an offensive weapon and will be sentenced on Friday, 2 October. The jury heard that the pair were part of a group who plotted the arson, although the motive remains unclear.
Detective Inspector Emma Sharp, who led the investigation, said: “This group tried outmanoeuvre the police and avoid the consequences of their pre-mediated violence, but today’s outcome showcases that our detectives can unravel multifaceted incidents to secure justice and take dangerous offenders off our streets.
“The August attack impacted dozens of innocent people, and I’d like to thank the victims and witnesses for their steadfast resilience since the incident, and throughout the trial.”
