Teen Pleads Guilty to Synagogue Arson in London

A 17-year-old boy from Brent, northwest London, pleaded guilty on Tuesday to arson not endangering life after throwing a bottle containing an accelerant through a window of Kenton United Synagogue in Harrow late on Saturday night. The incident, which caused minor smoke damage to an internal room but no injuries, is the latest in a series of attacks targeting Jewish institutions across the United Kingdom in recent weeks.

According to court records and surveillance footage presented at Westminster Magistrates Court, the teenager climbed over a wall at the synagogue on Shaftesbury Avenue around 11:35 p.m., broke a window, lit the bottle, and tossed it inside. Officers from the Metropolitan Police, conducting routine security checks at local synagogues, discovered the scene shortly after midnight and alerted the London Fire Brigade. The Community Security Trust, a Jewish security organization, confirmed the limited damage and absence of structural harm or casualties.

In a written statement read during the hearing, the boy, whose identity is protected due to his age, expressed remorse and denied any antisemitic intent. "I have no hate toward the Jewish people," he said. "I didn't...