Four men plead guilty to arson attack on Jewish ambulances in London

Four young British men ​pleaded guilty on Friday to charges ‌over an ​arson attack on community ambulances in London, the first of a spate of incidents targeting the capital's Jewish community earlier this ‌year.

The torching of four ambulances belonging to Jewish volunteer emergency service Hatzola on March 23 while they were parked near a synagogue was followed by several other attacks. A synagogue and a ‌former synagogue were targeted, as was Persian-language media organisation Iran International and a memorial wall ‌dedicated to people killed in Iran, in a series of incidents in April and May.

British police said at the time that they were investigating possible Iranian links to those arson attacks, with pro-Iranian group Harakat Ashab al-Yamin ⁠al-Islamiyya (HAYI) ​claiming responsibility for the ambulance ⁠attack and some others. The SITE Intelligence website has said HAYI had been behind similar fires in Europe.

Hamza Iqbal, ⁠20, Rehan Khan, 19, Judex Atshatshi, 18, and Saif Ali, 18, appeared at London's Old Bailey ​court on Friday and admitted destroying or damaging property being reckless as to whether life ⁠would be endangered. Prosecutors said at a previous hearing that web searches for "how much do ambulances cost" and "how ⁠long ​does it take for police to (investigate) arsons" were found on Iqbal's phone after his arrest.

A fifth defendant, 18-year-old Subhan Ahmed, pleaded not guilty to a charge of assisting an offender ⁠relating to the disposal of a vehicle used in the incident. He is expected to stand ⁠trial next year. Prosecutors say ⁠the attack targeting Hatzola, a not-for-profit volunteer service that works alongside Britain's National Health Service and primarily serves the Orthodox Jewish community, cost around £1 ‌million ($1.36 million). ($1 = ‌0.7363 pounds)