Court Rules Mental Illness, Not Hate, Behind Synagogue Attack
An Australian magistrate has determined that a man who set fire to a Melbourne synagogue door while worshippers were inside was motivated by severe mental illness, not antisemitism. The ruling came on Monday, 24th November 2025, in a case that had initially sparked fears of a hate crime amidst a sharp national rise in antisemitic incidents.
Angelo Loras, a 35-year-old former forklift driver from Sydney, pleaded guilty to charges of arson and recklessly placing people at risk of death. The incident occurred on the 4th of July, when Loras doused the front door of the East Melbourne Synagogue, also known as the East Melbourne Hebrew Congregation, with a flammable liquid and set it alight. Approximately twenty people were inside the building sharing a Shabbat meal at the time. Fortunately, no one was injured in the attack.
A National Context of Rising Tension
This arson attack took place against a backdrop of significantly increased reports of both antisemitic and Islamophobic incidents across Australia since the outbreak of the Israel-Hamas war in 2023. In the immediate aftermath of the fire, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese condemned the act, releasing a statement branding it a "cowardly act of violence and antisemitism" that had no place in the country.
However, after examining the evidence, Magistrate Malcolm Thomas reached a different conclusion. He ruled that Loras was not driven by religious or racial hatred but was instead in the grip of a terrifying delusion, a direct result of his failure to take prescribed medication for schizophrenia.
Sentencing and Wider Implications
Magistrate Thomas sentenced Loras to a four-month prison term. Having already spent 138 days in custody since his arrest two days after the attack, Loras became eligible for immediate release. The magistrate also imposed a 20-month medical treatment order for his schizophrenia and mandated that he perform unpaid work.
In a notable move, Thomas advised the Jewish congregation against seeking a restitution order for the 54,000 Australian dollars (approximately £28,000 / $35,000 USD) in damages, noting that Loras had been homeless for an extended period and had no prior criminal record.
Loras had told police he believed the synagogue was a residential address. This attack was one of three suspected antisemitic incidents in Melbourne that weekend, including the harassment of diners at an Israeli-owned restaurant and an arson attack on vehicles with antisemitic inferences found at the scene.
Separately, the Australian government has formally blamed Iran for a different, earlier arson attack on a Melbourne synagogue, which security agencies describe as a deliberate antisemitic crime aimed at undermining social cohesion.
