A 65-year-old man has pleaded guilty to petrol-bombing a migrant hotel in north London, with police warning the attack could easily have caused horrific injuries.
Mark Neville was caught after CCTV was used to track him from the scene to his address on Pear Tree Street in Islington. Detective Chief Inspector Paul Ridley, of the Metropolitan Police, said Neville’s attack on the hotel on Dingley Road, also in Islington, on September 24 last year could “easily have caused horrific injuries”.
Attack on Islington hotel
Nobody was injured in the incident, with the fire quickly extinguished by security guards. Officers were called to the hotel, which is no longer used to house migrants, following reports of a fire at 10.53pm.
CCTV showed a masked man, dressed all in black, lighting a petrol bomb and throwing it over a gate and towards the hotel entrance. Investigators used CCTV to track the man from the scene to the door of his flat.
Hundreds of hours of footage was reviewed during the investigation, with police managing to secure a clear photo of the suspect. The man in the image was identified as Neville by local members of the public.
Evidence and arrest
Specialist forensic teams also linked Neville’s DNA to glass fragments of the petrol bomb, while a London Fire Brigade forensic dog found a glove with his DNA in a bin close to the hotel. Neville was arrested two days after the attack on Friday, September 26, and later charged.
Searches of the 65-year-old’s flat found evidence he was likely motivated by hate and specifically anger at immigration, including internet searches on far-right activism and asylum seekers, the Met said.
Detective Chief Inspector Ridley, whose team led the investigation, said: “Neville fire-bombed a hotel in an attack that was designed to terrify residents and the local community. His actions could easily have caused horrific injuries.
“Officers immediately moved to identify him, track him down and arrest him, examining hundreds of hours of CCTV and gathering crucial evidence. After he was arrested he tried to deny his guilt, as officers uncovered overwhelming proof that he was motivated by hate.”
Court proceedings
Neville had initially denied involvement in the incident, claiming he was visiting a friend who had been diagnosed with dementia. He later admitted to being the person in the footage after he was confronted about searches and messages relating to far-right activists, migration and asylum seekers on devices found in his flat.
Neville was convicted of attempted arson being reckless as to endanger life, possession of a bladed article and possession of a prohibited weapon (a stun gun) in a private place at Snaresbrook Crown Court on Wednesday. He is expected to be sentenced on December 9.
