![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.diningandcooking.com\/restaurants\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/SEI_263042765-f47e.jpg\")
\n\t\tA forensic investigator at the restaurant in Ilford, east London (Picture: PA)<\/p>\n
\t\t
\n\t\tA forensic investigator at the restaurant in Ilford, east London (Picture: PA)<\/p>\n
Two teenagers have been jailed for 10 years over an arson attack at an Indian restaurant that left diners in \u2018agonising\u2019 pain when they were doused in petrol and engulfed in flames.<\/p>\n
The youths, aged 17, were armed with \u2018long knives and swords\u2019 when they stormed Indian Aroma in Woodford Avenue, Gants Hill, at around 9pm last August 22, the Old Bailey heard on Friday.<\/p>\n
Am accomplice, who was not involved in the case, made his way to the back of the room and began emptying cannisters of petrol on to the floor and tables while the pair held the door \u2018mostly shut\u2019 and a piece of paper was used to cause an \u2018explosion\u2019.<\/p>\n
Prosecutor James Dawes KC told the Old Bailey that customers were \u2018guaranteed to suffer burns\u2019 after being left \u2018frozen in terror\u2019.<\/p>\n
The pair were previously convicted of arson with intent to endanger life and having a bladed article, and were sentenced by His Honour Judge Michael Grieve KC on Friday.<\/p>\n
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They were handed an extended sentence made up of 10 years custody, with an extended period of three years.<\/p>\n
Sentencing the pair, the judge said the attack was a \u2018sophisticated and professional operation\u2019 which involved a \u2018high degree\u2019 of planning.<\/p>\n
He added: \u2018You were both fully aware of the almost inevitable consequences, namely to cause serious harm, up to and including death, to complete strangers.\u2019<\/p>\n
Referring to the victims, he said they \u2018have suffered agonising and life-changing injuries \u2013 and it could have been worse\u2019.<\/p>\n
He added: \u2018I have no doubt that you were carrying out this operation on the direction of some older and more experienced criminal who has not been identified\u2026 but you did so with cold blood.\u2019<\/p>\n
\t\t![\"Police](\"https:\/\/www.diningandcooking.com\/restaurants\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/SEI_263042740-5155.jpg\")
\n\t\tProsecutor James Dawes KC told the Old Bailey that customers were \u2018guaranteed to suffer burns\u2019 after being left \u2018frozen in terror\u2019(Picture: PA)<\/p>\n
The court heard the arsonists \u2018burst into\u2019 the establishment at around 9pm, with Mr Dawes telling the court the \u2018peace\u2019 felt by the eight customers dining at the restaurant was \u2018shattered\u2019.<\/p>\n
The two teenagers guarded the door with machetes while the third individual ran to the end of the restaurant and began emptying petrol on the floor and tables.<\/p>\n
While it was previously said the attacker poured petrol directly on to the back of a customer, the judge said that having reviewed the CCTV evidence in court, this was perhaps \u2018questionable\u2019.<\/p>\n
But he did say petrol was \u2018liberally spread around on the chairs of which customers were sitting\u2019.<\/p>\n
After doing so, the group reversed out the room and proceeded to hold the door \u2018mostly shut\u2019 before lighting a slip of paper, causing an \u2018explosion\u2019.<\/p>\n
The attackers fled the scene in a stolen car and emergency services attended \u2013 including six London Fire Brigade vehicles and crew.<\/p>\n
The prosecutor said: \u2018The 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.\u2019<\/p>\n
He said the attackers ordered the customers to remain in their seats and \u2018threatened them with long knives and swords\u2019.<\/p>\n
\u2018The 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,\u2019 he added.<\/p>\n
The court was told about the injuries sustained by the customers at the restaurant.<\/p>\n
One woman was placed in a medically induced coma after the incident, which saw her clothing melted to her skin.<\/p>\n
\t\t![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.diningandcooking.com\/restaurants\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/SEI_263042872-e051.jpg\")
\n\t\ttwo teenagers guarded the door with machetes while the third individual ran to the end of the restaurant and began emptying petrol on the floor and tables (Picture: PA)<\/p>\n
The court heard she sustained burns to 50% of the total body surface area, 45% of which were full-thickness burns.<\/p>\n
Her husband \u2013 who was seen running out of the restaurant on fire \u2013 sustained mixed-depth burns to 51% of the total body surface area. In a statement, he said he \u2018woke up 45 days after being burnt\u2019.<\/p>\n
The prosecutor said it has been a \u2018completely traumatic and appalling incident\u2019 for both of them and has \u2018transformed their personal lives\u2019.<\/p>\n
Another victim said in a statement that before the incident, she was an \u2018independent woman with plans, prospects and hope\u2019.<\/p>\n
She added: \u2018What I have now is a life that has been completely upended by 30 seconds of someone else\u2019s violence.\u2019<\/p>\n
Another customer described the \u2018agonising physical pain\u2019 felt during the incident.<\/p>\n
Mark Graffius KC, representing one of the youth defendants, invited the judge to draw the \u2018reasonable inference\u2019 that the teenager was \u2018subject to ongoing exploitation up to and until the offence\u2019.<\/p>\n
Nneka Akudolu KC, representing the other teenager, said her client is \u2018sorry\u2019 for the \u201cpainful and life-changing injuries\u201d the victims suffered at his hands.<\/p>\n
She said he had been told the restaurant would be empty.<\/p>\n
The teenagers had denied the offences but were convicted after a six-week trial which took place earlier this year.<\/p>\n
One of the teenagers had pleaded guilty at an earlier hearing to an additional charge of failing to disclose a Pin.<\/p>\n
The third accomplice was not involved in the trial or sentencing hearing.<\/p>\n
Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@metro.co.uk.<\/p>\n
For more stories like this, check our news page.<\/p>\n
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A forensic investigator at the restaurant in Ilford, east London (Picture: PA) Two teenagers have been jailed for 10 years over an arson attack at an Indian restaurant that left diners in \u2018agonising\u2019 pain when they were doused in petrol and engulfed in flames. The youths, aged 17, were armed with \u2018long knives and swords\u2019<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":35349,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[266],"tags":[28840,488,489,120,18363],"class_list":["post-35348","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-indian-restaurants","tag-crime-news","tag-indian-restaurant","tag-indian-restaurants","tag-news","tag-uk"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/vive.im\/@dnc\/117373395612696702","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.diningandcooking.com\/restaurants\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35348","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.diningandcooking.com\/restaurants\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.diningandcooking.com\/restaurants\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.diningandcooking.com\/restaurants\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.diningandcooking.com\/restaurants\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=35348"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.diningandcooking.com\/restaurants\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35348\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.diningandcooking.com\/restaurants\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/35349"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.diningandcooking.com\/restaurants\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=35348"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.diningandcooking.com\/restaurants\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=35348"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.diningandcooking.com\/restaurants\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=35348"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}