Hackney residents ‘homeless’ at Christmas after suspected arson attacks

The burnt out China Garden building in Kings Crescent. Photograph: Hackney Citizen

A family fled a burning building and two men jumped from a window to escape a separate blaze in a quiet residential street that has been rocked by a shocking spate of violence.

Alarmed residents and shopkeepers this week met with representatives from the police and Hackney Council to demand tighter security in Mountgrove Road, just west of Clissold Park.

The neighbourhood is known for the clutch of retro and vintage shops including bespoke bicycle retailer Sargeant and Co, but in the past three weeks two of its shops have suffered suspected arson attacks while a third had a rock thrown through its window.

No one was hurt but it is thought several people who were forced to flee the flames are set to spend Christmas in emergency accomodation because of the horrific damage to their homes.

At the meeting on Monday night, called by Mountgrove Road resident Victoria Powell, neighbours said they feared insufficient action was being taken to improve safety in the Brownswood ward of which the street is a part.

The first suspected arson attack took place on Sunday 4 December at approximately 11pm when the Turkish and Cypriot Council and Community Centre at 76 Mountgrove Road was set alight, apparently by a petrol bomb or similar device.

The fire was extinguished minutes later thanks to Rob Sargent of Sargent and Co.

Mr Sargent said: “I went outside and the pavement was on fire. The window had been smashed and the blinds were on fire, so I threw the blinds out through the window. The flames were licking up through the ceiling.

“I had a bucket of water in my shop from cleaning bikes, so I went into the shop and doused the fire with the bucket. I knew there was a family in the basement and there was no way out the back. Then I saw them, and at that point the fire brigade arrived and escorted them out.”

The second fire broke out in the early hours of Wednesday 7 December at the corner of Mountgrove Road and Kings Crescent in the former China Garden Chinese takeaway shop, which had been empty for several years.

Vicki Hendricks, who lives two doors down from the building, said she heard noises at about 4.30am, which she initially attributed to a burglary, before looking out of her window.

She said: “It was at the start of the fire, and the flames were shooting across the road.”

According to Hendricks, two men escaped from a flat located above the shop, one by jumping out the window.

Police claim the two fires are unrelated to each other, but the incident at the Turkish and Cypriot Community Centre is one of five similar arson attacks that have taken place in recent weeks in North London involving premises housing Turkish and Kurdish groups, and there are fears that they may be motivated by sectarian rivalries.

A police spokesperson said: “These attacks have taken place at premises which are largely associated with the Turkish and Kurdish communities – however they are cultural and community centres used by the wider community.

“Police are currently investigating the circumstances surrounding these arsons and detectives are keeping an open mind regarding the motive at this stage. Although it is too early to say if these attacks are linked, this is one line of inquiry.”

Commenting on the fire at the China Garden premises, the spokesperson said: “We are working in conjunction with the London Fire Brigade and the investigation is currently still ongoing. We are keeping an open mind as to the cause of the fire.”

In a third incident a brick was thrown through the window of another shop in Mountgrove Road in the early hours of Sunday 4 December. The shop’s manager said they believed the incident was an act of random vandalism rather than attempted break-in.

Local residents and businesses are calling for improved street lighting on Mountgrove Road and for CCTV cameras to be installed in the area. A council representative who attended Monday’s meeting said the street lighting was “up to the minimum required standard”.