Kosher Manchester restaurant arson attacks probed as 'anti-Semitic hate crimes'

Police in Manchester are treating two arson attacks on kosher restaurants in the past five days in the city as "anti-Semitic hate crimes".

The attacks, which Greater Manchester Police (GMP) believe after initial investigations are linked, targeted the JS and Ta'am restaurants in Prestwich, north Manchester.

On Friday (2 June) CCTV footage captured assailants throwing at least one Molotov cocktail, consisting of milk cartons filled with petrol, at the Ta'am Deli and Grill, on Bury New Road.

When the lit rags attached to the petrol bombs failed to ignite, a rocks were thrown at the front windows.

Then at around 3.30am on Tuesday (6 June) arsonists approached J S Restaurant on Kings Road and forced open a window before pouring accelerant inside and lighting it.

The fire service were quickly on the scene and were able to put the fire out before any serious damage could be done to the property.

No one was hurt in either of the attacks and Detective Chief Inspector Charlotte Cadden said the constabulary were "treating these as anti-Semitic hate crimes".

"This is clearly very worrying for businesses and people living in the area and I want to offer you my assurances that we have increased patrols in the area and have a team investigating these linked crimes," she said.

"We are working alongside the Community Security Trust and if anyone in the area has concerns, I would urge you to come and talk to us."

In a Facebook post the JS restaurant said: "No words can describe the anger of the management and staff of what some complete and utter idiot did to our restaurant in the early hours of today!".

The Ta'am Deli was previously targeted by arsonists last May when a petrol bomb was thrown at the restaurant after being set alight.

They said on social media following the incident: "We were subjected to a vandal attack (B'H our damage is a smashed window) on Friday night", their Facebook post read.

"At this stage we do not know if there is any connection to the JS arson attack last night and would not like to speculate."