Two teenagers have been jailed for 10 years after an arson attack at an Indian restaurant in east London left customers with “agonising and life-changing injuries”. The youths, aged 17, were armed with weapons resembling machetes when they stormed Indian Aroma in Gants Hill at around 9pm on August 22.
The pair entered the restaurant alongside another individual, who made his way to the back of the room and emptied canisters of petrol onto the floor and tables. The group then backed out of the building and held the door “mostly shut” as one of them lit a piece of paper, sparking an “explosion”.
Sentencing at the Old Bailey
The pair, jailed at the Old Bailey on Friday, were previously convicted of arson with intent to endanger life and having a bladed article. His Honour Judge Michael Grieve KC handed the teenagers an extended sentence made up of 10 years custody, with an extended period of three years.
The extent of the injuries suffered by customers was laid bare in court, with one woman placed in a medically induced coma after her clothing melted to her skin. The court heard she sustained burns to 50% of the total body surface area, 45% of which were full-thickness burns. Her husband, who was seen running out of the restaurant on fire, suffered mixed-depth burns to 51% of the total body surface area. In a statement, he said he “woke up 45 days after being burnt”.
Court hears of ‘sophisticated’ attack
Prosecutor James Dawes KC said it has been a “completely traumatic and appalling incident” for both of them and has “transformed their personal lives”. Sentencing the two teenagers, Judge Grieve said the attack was a “sophisticated and professional operation” which involved a “high degree” of planning.
He added: “You were both fully aware of the almost inevitable consequences, namely to cause serious harm, up to and including death, to complete strangers.” The victims “suffered agonising and life-changing injuries,” which “could have been worse,” he said. “I have no doubt that you were carrying out this operation on the direction of some older and more experienced criminal who has not been identified… but you did so with cold blood,” Judge Grieve said.
The court heard the arsonists “burst into” the establishment at around 9pm, with the prosecutor telling the court the attackers had “shattered” the “peace” felt by the eight diners at the restaurant. The two teenagers guarded the door with machetes while the third individual ran to the end of the restaurant and began emptying petrol on the floor and tables, the court heard.
Victims describe ‘agonising physical pain’
While it was previously said the attacker poured petrol directly on to the back of a customer, the judge said that having reviewed the CCTV evidence in court, this was perhaps “questionable”. However he did say petrol was “liberally spread around on the chairs of which customers were sitting”. The group reversed out the room and proceeded to hold the door “mostly shut” before lighting a slip of paper, causing an “explosion”.
The attackers then fled the scene in a stolen car before emergency services raced to the restaurant, including six London Fire Brigade vehicles and crew. The prosecutor said: “The preparations for this attack were extensive and the execution of this attack was professional and clearly had been planned and rehearsed as each one of them had separate, well-defined roles.” He said the attackers ordered the customers to remain in their seats and “threatened them with long knives and swords”.
“The offenders took the decision to set light to the pool of petrol while the customers were still seated frozen in terror, guaranteeing burns would be caused to some or all of them,” he added. One victim said in a statement that before the incident, she was an “independent woman with plans, prospects and hope”. She added: “What I have now is a life that has been completely upended by 30 seconds of someone else's violence.” Another customer described the “agonising physical pain” felt during the incident.
Mark Graffius KC, representing one of the youth defendants, invited the judge to draw the “reasonable inference” that the teenager was “subject to ongoing exploitation up to and until the offence”. Nneka Akudolu KC, representing the other teenager, said her client is “sorry” for the “painful and life-changing injuries” the victims suffered at his hands. She said he had been told the restaurant would be empty.
The teenagers had denied the offences but were convicted after a six-week trial which took place earlier this year. One of the teenagers had pleaded guilty at an earlier hearing to an additional charge of failing to disclose a Pin. The third accomplice was not involved in the trial or sentencing hearing.
