Police searching for hooded man over Finsbury Park mosque arson attack

Police are hunting for a man wearing a white hooded top over a suspected arson attack at the Finsbury Park mosque on the evening of Friday, 27 November. The man reportedly attempted to set fire to the mosque in North London, but was caught and fled the scene on a moped.

Police were called to the St Thomas's Road mosque after reports a man was seen "acting suspiciously at the location and attempting to set it alight". The suspect, described as a white man wearing a white hooded top, was also spotted in the area at around 8.25pm on Friday evening. Police confirmed that no one was injured during the arson attempt.

Last night after Isha time, someone tried to burn the Finsbury Park Mosque by throwing a Molotov bottle. pic.twitter.com/oB1Z564Fh8

— Confused Orientalist (@Habibiline) November 28, 2015

On Saturday, forensic officers were working outside the mosque searching for any clues that the culprit may have left. Detectives are investigating the attempted arson attack at the Finsbury Park mosque as a potential hate crime.

A police spokesperson said: "At this early stage police are treating the incident as a hate crime."

The blog bayareaintifada claims that the suspect tried to "burn the mosque by throwing a molotov bottle", however, it "did not explode and no one got hurt and no damage was done".

"We have expressed our deepest concerns to the police and hope they will take this attack very seriously. We hope they find out who is behind this grave incident and catch the perpetrators," the blog said. "We would like to assure our community in Islington that such crime has no place within our society and we are determined more than ever to promote community cohesion and harmony."

Anyone with information should contact Islington CID on 0207 421 0262 or by dialling 101 or speak to Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111 or via crimestoppers-uk.org.