Customers at an Indian restaurant were “frozen in terror” as masked attackers doused the room in petrol before holding the door shut and setting the room and them alight, a court has heard.
Georgia Bates, Press Association
14:59, 02 Oct 2026
The owner of the restaurant is said to have been left traumatised and ‘extremely scared'(Image: PA)
Customers at an Indian restaurant were “frozen in terror” as masked attackers doused the room in petrol before holding the door shut and setting the room and them alight, a court has heard.
The incident at Indian Aroma in Woodford Avenue, Gants Hill, Ilford, on August 22 last year caused multiple people to suffer severe and “life-changing” injuries. Two of the attackers – both aged 17 – are being sentenced at the Old Bailey having previously been convicted of arson with intent to endanger life and having a bladed article.
The court heard the arsonists stormed the establishment at around 9pm, with prosecutor James Dawes KC telling the court that the “peace” felt by the eight customers dining at the restaurant was “shattered”.
The two teenagers guarded the door with machetes while another individual ran to the end of the restaurant and began emptying petrol on the floor and tables. The court was told the masked attacker then proceeded to pour petrol onto the back of a customer.
After doing so, the group reversed out the room and proceeded to hold the door “mostly shut” before lighting a slip of paper, causing an “explosion”.
Mr Dawes KC said this burned the customers “who had not had the opportunity to leave because they had been ordered to stay still”. The attackers fled the scene, the court heard, and emergency services attended – including six London Fire Brigade vehicles and crew.
The prosecutor said: “The preparations for this attack were extensive and the execution of this attack was professional and clearly had been planned and rehearsed as each one of them had separate well-defined roles.”
He later added: “They ordered the customers to remain in their seats, that is almost guaranteed that they would be engulfed in flames, and threatened them with long knives and swords.
“The offenders took the decision to set light to the pool of petrol while the customers were still seated frozen in terror, guaranteeing burns would be caused to some or all of them.”
The court was told about the injuries sustained by the customers at the restaurant.
A young married couple in their 20s were dining at Indian Aroma when the masked attackers entered.
The woman – who had petrol poured on her – was placed in a medically induced coma after the incident, which saw her clothing melted to her skin.
The court heard she sustained burns to 50% of the total body surface area, 45% of which were full-thickness burns.
Her husband was seen running out of the restaurant on fire. He had sustained mixed-depth burns to 51% of the total body surface area.
The prosecutor said it has been a “completely traumatic and appalling incident” for both of them and has “transformed their personal lives”.
Another victim described the “agonising physical pain” felt during the incident, while another’s life was said to have been “upended” by the attack.
Mark Graffius KC, representing one of the youth defendants, said the petrol was not poured “deliberately” on the customer’s shoulders. He added that the petrol was also not lit while the customers were all seated.
Nneka Akudolu KC, representing the other youth, said her client is “sorry” for the “painful and life-changing injuries” the victims suffered at his hands.
She said: “(He) cannot undo the past but he is asking this court not to make the sentence too crushingly long that he cannot look forward to an opportunity to build a very different future.”
The teenagers had denied the offences but were convicted after a six-week trial which took place earlier this year. The sentencing hearing continues.
Dining and Cooking