Attacks on Jewish sites ‘raise prospect of foreign state working to sow discord’

Metropolitan Police Deputy Commissioner Matt Jukes reading a statement outside the Kenton United Synagogue in Harrow, north-west London, after an attempted arson attack (James Manning/PA) - (PA Wire)

A spate of attacks on Jewish sites in London raises the “troubling” prospect of a foreign state using hate crime to sow discord in the UK, one of the country’s most senior police officers has said.

Investigators are working to establish whether Iran has paid British criminals to carry out acts on UK soil, after a series of incidents including an arson attack on Jewish community ambulances and attempted arson attacks at synagogues in Finchley and Kenton and a former Jewish charity in Hendon.