Man attempted to set fire to town hall and himself
POLICE OFFICER ‘BRAVELY DISARMED HIM OF HIS LIGHTER’
A MAN who threatened to set fire to himself and Kensington Town Hall – while people were inside – has been jailed.
Ako Ahmed 45, of no fixed address, appeared at Isleworth Crown Court on February 16, where he was sentenced to four years imprisonment for making threats to kill and threatening to damage property.
This follows Ahmed having been found guilty of making threats to kill and threatening to damage property on February 26 2020.
He was found not guilty of attempting to commit arson with intent to endanger life.
Detective Constable Nigel Pacquette of Belgravia CID, who led the investigation, said: “Ahmed had lost sight of the fact that he was attacking the very people who were trying to help him. His actions could have resulted in serious injury to everyone present, including himself.
“I’m thankful this wasn’t the case and applaud the officer who bravely disarmed Ahmed of his lighter.
“Had it not been for the actions of responding officers who placed themselves in harm’s way, the outcome of this incident could have been far more sinister.”
At around 11.30am on September 4 2019, Ahmed attended Kensington Town Hall in Hornton Street and began shouting at staff.
He then poured petrol on the floor of the reception area, all over himself and took out a lighter before threatening to kill a named employee as well as everyone in the building by burning it down.
Police were called and upon their arrival Ahmed was disarmed of his lighter by a police officer.
He was arrested on suspicion of arson and threats to kill and was later charged and remanded in custody.
During the trial, the court heard
how Ahmed had been involved in a dispute with the council about his housing situation.
COUNCIL tax is going up in Westminster to cope with the costs of the pandemic.
Westminster City Council plans to increase the council tax by 3.5% – including a general increase of 0.5% and a social care precept rise of 3%.
It means residents living in Band D homes will have to fork out an extra £15.69 a year – or 30.2p a week.
Their bill will go up from £448.21 a year to £463.90 in the coming financial year.
The increase is still below the maximum of the 4.99% the Government
says councils can increase bills by before they have to trigger a referendum.
John McCardle, chairman of Queen’s Park Community Council, wants community centres used as vaccine centres
However, the Conservative-controlled council said this year’s increase is necessary because of the pressures of the pandemic.
It was already looking at savings before coronavirus struck.
The council says it has seen a loss of income from parking, commercial waste collection and sales.
Paul Swaddle, the cabinet member in charge of finance, said the council suffered a gross variance of £60-70 million in the budget – but managed to offset it with government grants and income reimbursement and by drawing on its reserves, which have a balance of £63m.
However, Cllr Swaddle warned of tough days ahead.
The £182m budget which will come to full council in March includes £16.9m savings for 2021/22.
The council faces a budget gap of £43m over the next couple of years.
Cllr Swaddle said: “The council has been relying on generating more income as a way of balancing its budget, but we are in a very different situation now, so that the process has focussed much more on reviewing our spending, looking for efficiencies in ways of doing things but still achieving good outcomes.
“As a balance to the council tax increase, Westminster Council continues to maintain a council tax support scheme at the most generous levels, with residents on full welfare support not having to pay any council tax.”
Council leader Rachael Robathan said: “I can’t remember a year as critical as this in terms of the impact on the city’s finances.
“The fact that we have been able to meet this position in such relatively robust health is something we would have found quite difficult to believe nine months ago.”
She said it was important to keep the council tax increase in line with inflation.
She added: “We know that council tax is a tax that affects people disproportionately, affects those on lower incomes and it is right that we do everything we can to keep council tax low while maintaining front-line services in order to support our residents, particularly after such a challenging year as this.”