One of many low points in October 2008 was the arson attack which a 23 year old local man, Abrar Mirza, of Eastfield Road, perpetrated on the home and office of Martin Rynja, the publisher of The Jewel of the Medina.
Mirza, a phone salesman, went along with Ali Beheshti, to pour diesel through the door of Gibson Square Books Ltd and then lit it before trying to run away. They were arrested by armed police officers. They had apparently been observed carrying out reconnaissance of the building in Lonsdale Square, Islington and its surrounding area in the weeks before the attack.
Mirza and Beheshti admitted conspiracy to commit arson and recklessly endangering life. Abbas Taj, 31, denied the charges but was found guilty. The three were today sentenced to four and a half years in prison.
Diesel? Do these idiots know nothing? I learned at school how to make a better incendiary device than this. It must be true what they say about declining educational standards.