Deputy commissioner warns 'thugs for hire being paid as little as £500' for anti-Semitic arson attacks
Matt Jukes told LBC that Londoners should be vigilant on behalf of their "Jewish neighbours" amid the surge in incidents
The Met Police's deputy commissioner has warned anyone targeting Jewish communities in suspected arson attacks that it is a "mug's game" and they will go to prison.
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Two males, aged 19 and 17, were arrested after an attempted arson attack at Kenton United Synagogue in Harrow over the weekend where a "bottle of accelerant" was thrown through a window.
The attack was the fourth antisemitic arson attack on the Jewish community in North London in less than a month.
Speaking to LBC's Nick Ferrari at Breakfast, Matt Jukes said previous attacks have been carried out by "thugs for hire" who are offered small sums of money to carry out the attacks. Police are investigating whether these attacks are being funded by Iran.
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Asked what his message was to the perpetrators, the deputy commissioner said: "It's a mug's game.
"You're going to prison if you do that. We are going to catch you and we're going to catch you because London, this fantastic city, is on the lookout for you.
"So all of Londoners today should be vigilant on behalf of their Jewish neighbours to give us the information that can help us bring those responsible to justice. Unlike the arrests we've made overnight, we're not going to rest."
The building, which is close to a school and children’s playground, sustained minor smoke damage to an internal room was caused but no injuries or significant structural damage were reported.
The teenagers were arrested in connection to the incident which police are treating as arson.
Mr Jukes said: "What we've seen in those who have proved to be thugs for hire is an enormous range of backgrounds, so very much British-based individuals. It's cash for the action.
"So often not with any allegiance or any alignment to the cause, but what we do know is there are racists and thugs in the UK already who can be mobilised.
"I think we all need to speak out against what sits at the heart of this, which is anti-Semitism in many senses and so that means we need, a response to that across faiths, across charities, across government and politics to bear down on that challenge."
He added: "[It's] various sums of money. But I think that the bottom line is, you know, we are talking 500 quid.
"We're talking about sums of money which, you know, in the end, if you're doing a 17 year prison sentence will not seem possible.
"It's really, really small sums of money and when you're staring at the back of that prison cell door, it will seem a pretty."
The attack came hours after the Met deployed extra resources to parts of north-west London as it treated an attempted arson on Friday night as an antisemitic hate crime.
On Wednesday, bottles, one thought to contain petrol, were placed near Finchley Reform Synagogue in Fallow Court Avenue, Finchley.
This followed the torching of four Jewish community ambulances in Golders Green in the early hours of March 23.
Mr Jukes told Nick: "We stand with Jewish communities determined and relentless in protecting them. What that means in practise.
"So it's not just talking in sort of very open terms but we have dedicated thousands of additional patrols over the last month to Jewish communities right across London, but very focused in North London for obvious reasons.
"That means officers in plain clothes, officers in uniform form. We've got drones, motorbikes, armed officers, Taser armed officers.
"In fact, it was one of those patrols that came across the incident at Kenton United Synagogue."
The Prime Minister said he was "appalled" at the recent spate of arson attacks targeting Jewish sites in north London, adding: "We are increasing visible policing and those responsible will be found and brought to justice."