Teenager charged after arson attack on Kenton United Synagogue

Police charged a 17-year-old British national from Brent after a bottle containing accelerant was thrown through a window at Kenton United Synagogue, in Harrow, as officers investigate a wider series of arson attacks targeting Jewish and Israeli-linked sites in north-west London.

The fire broke out at about 11.35pm on Saturday, 18 April 2026, on Shaftesbury Avenue. Around midnight, Metropolitan Police officers carrying out synagogue security checks came across the scene and alerted the London Fire Brigade. No one was injured, and police said the premises suffered only minor damage. The Community Security Trust said the blaze caused minor smoke damage to an internal room and no significant structural damage.

The teenager has been charged with arson not endangering life and was remanded in custody ahead of an appearance at Westminster Magistrates’ Court on Tuesday, 21 April 2026. A 19-year-old man and the 17-year-old were arrested at separate addresses in north-west London at about 10.10pm on Sunday, 19 April.

Counter Terrorism Policing London is leading the investigation, treating the Kenton attack as part of a broader pattern. Police said several premises linked to Britain’s Jewish community and to those opposed to the Iranian regime had been targeted in recent days. Officers are also examining whether criminal proxies acting on behalf of Iran may be involved, while noting that the group Ashab al-Yamin has claimed responsibility online for most of the recent incidents.

The Kenton fire followed an attempted arson at Finchley Reform Synagogue on Wednesday, 15 April, an attempted attack on a Jewish-linked building in Hendon on Friday, 17 April, and the torching of four Jewish community ambulances in Golders Green last month. Police have stepped up visible patrols across north-west London as synagogues and communal sites review their own security measures.

Chief Rabbi Ephraim Mirvis said the Kenton attack was the third “cowardly attack” on Jewish sites in London in less than a week and warned of a “sustained campaign of violence and intimidation” against the UK Jewish community. Prime Minister Keir Starmer said he was “appalled” and said attacks on the Jewish community are attacks on Britain. The case now moves through the courts as police try to contain both the immediate threat to communal safety and the signal sent to anyone considering similar attacks.