Three charged with arson on Persian media offices in London

Two teenagers and a 21-year-old man appear in court charged with arson with intent to endanger life. Two teenagers and a 21-year-old man appear in court charged with arson with intent to endanger life.

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Two teenagers and a 21-year-old man appear in court charged with arson with intent to endanger life.

Three people have appeared in court charged over the attempted arson attack at the offices of a Persian language media organisation in north-west London.

An ignited container was thrown towards the Volant Media building in Park Royal at about 20:30 BST on Wednesday, but landed in a car park where the fire quickly went out.

Oisin McGuinness, 21, Nathan Dunn, 19, and a 16-year-old boy appeared side-by-side in the dock at London’s Westminster Magistrates’ Court charged with arson with intent to endanger life.

The three British nationals spoke only to confirm their personal details during the hearing.

The charge stated the amount of damage caused to the grounds of Volant Media was “unknown”.

There were no reports of any damage or injuries following the attempted attack.

Police said the suspects left the area in a black four-wheel-drive vehicle.

Two nearby buildings had been evacuated as a precaution, but were quickly reopened after police confirmed there was no wider risk to the public.

McGuinness has also been charged with dangerous driving on Woodberry Gardens, in north-west London, on the same date as the attempted arson.

The boy, who cannot be named for legal reasons, was remanded to the care of a local authority with conditions and will next appear at the Old Bailey on 15 May for a preliminary hearing.

McGuinness and Dunn, both of Watford, Hertfordshire, were each ordered to next appear in custody at the Old Bailey for a pre-trial preparation hearing on the same date.

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— LONDON — British police said Friday they have charged three people in an arson attack at a Persian-language media organization in northwest London.

Oisin McGuinness, 21, Nathan Dunn, 19, and a 16-year-old boy were all charged with arson with intent to endanger life, London’s Metropolitan Police Service said in a statement. McGuinness was also charged with dangerous driving. All three are British nationals.

Police said that officers on patrol in the Wembley area of north London on Wednesday night responded to reports of a burning container thrown toward a building. The unspecified container landed in a car park, where the fire went out. There were no reports of any damage or injuries.

The three suspects were arrested after the black SUV they were riding in crashed while being pursued by police.

The incident followed warnings that the conflict in the U.S.-led war against Iran had heightened ethnic and religious tensions in Britain. Persian is the primary language of Iran.

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Police are also investigating an attempted arson attack on a synagogue in northwest London earlier Wednesday and an attack last month that destroyed four ambulances owned by a Jewish charity in north London.

While all three attacks are being treated as separate incidents, counterterror police are conducting the investigations due to the nature of the attacks, their locations and the types of buildings involved, the Met said.

Police said they have not declared the incidents as terror attacks and they “retain an open mind” about the motivation behind the attacks.

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— The attack, which took place in Wembley on Wednesday saw a lit canister hurled at the organisation’s offices.

Three people have been charged over an attempted arson attack that saw a lit canister hurled at the offices of a Persian media organisation in north-west London.

Oisin McGuinness, 21, Nathan Dunn, 19, and a 16-year-old boy who cannot be named for legal reasons have been charged with arson with intent to endanger life following the attack in Wembley on Wednesday night.

McGuinness is facing an additional charge of dangerous driving.

The charges, confirmed by the Metropolitan Police on Friday, come after officers who were on patrol were told of an “ignited container” at around 8.30pm on Wednesday.

The force was told the container had been thrown into the premises in Wembley, with the lit item landing in the car park.

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The suspects were then seen to leave the area in a black SUV.

A police armed response vehicle gave chase after the driver failed to stop, with the SUV later crashing in Ballards Lane in Finchley.

According to the Met, the fire was seen to put itself out, with no injuries reported, with a number of nearby buildings were evacuated as a precaution.

Police said it’s not being treated as a terrorist incident, despite the incident being investigated by detectives from Counter Terrorism Policing London.

All three people are due to appear at Westminster Magistrates’ Court on Friday.

— British police said on Friday they had charged three people over an attempted arson attack on offices linked to television station Iran International in northwest London earlier this week.

The three, two men and a teenager and all British, are accused of arson with intent to endanger life after an ignited container was thrown towards the premises of the parent company of Iran International, Volant Media, on Wednesday evening, landing in a car park.

The fire immediately put itself out, causing ⁠no damage nor injuries, Reuters reported.

Iran ⁠International, a London-based television station critical of Tehran’s government, said a suspicious vehicle was denied entry to its London sit…