Counter-terrorism police are now leading the investigation into the firebombing of a Dover immigration centre, police have confirmed. It comes as Kent Police named the suspect, who was found dead a short while after the incident on Sunday, as Andrew Leak.
The 66-year-old suspect is from High Wycombe in Buckinghamshire, about 118 miles from Dover. The force clarified that the incident has not been declared a terrorist attack, but that it was "likely to be driven by some form of hate-filled grievance".
Leak is believed to have thrown two or three “crude” incendiary devices at the Border Force migrant centre from his car on Sunday morning, which caused a fire injuring two people. He is then believed to have killed himself at a nearby petrol station, police said.
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Police believe the suspect was working alone and have reassured the community that there is "nothing to suggest" a wider threat. In a statement released today, Detective Chief Superintendent Olly Wright, head of Counter Terrorism Policing South East said: “This was a traumatic incident for everyone involved, and the wider community, and we’re working hard to establish exactly what led to the events on Sunday morning. We understand that when Counter Terrorism Policing become involved, it can be worrying for some people, but I would like to reassure people that there is nothing to suggest any ongoing wider threat at this time.
“What appears clear is that this despicable offence was targeted and likely to be driven by some form of hate filled grievance, though this may not necessarily meet the threshold of terrorism. At this point, the incident itself has not been declared a terrorist incident, but this is being kept under review as the investigation progresses.”
The two people hurt inside the centre reported minor injuries and the site remained open on Sunday following the attack, although 700 people were moved to Manston asylum processing centre in Kent for safety reasons. The situation has exacerbated issues at the Manston centre, which is severely overcrowded and has seen outbreaks of disease among people who are spending far longer detained at the centre than they should be.
Today, prime minister Rishi Sunak told his Cabinet that the UK will always be a “compassionate, welcoming country” after his home secretary, Suella Braverman, came under fire for claiming in the House of Commons that there is an “invasion” by migrants on England’s south coast. The PM's official spokesman suggested Ms Braverman was seeking to “express the sheer scale of the challenge” at hand, but would not say if No 10 would describe the situation in the same way.
Speaking in the Commons, Ms Braverman denied ignoring legal advice to procure more accommodation amid warnings that the temporary holding centre in Kent had become dangerously overcrowded. She insisted she was right to order a review of the way the system was working after being alarmed to find that the UK is spending £6.8 million a day putting up migrants in hotels.
Immigration minister Robert Jenrick said words must be chosen very carefully and warned against demonising people seeking to come to the UK, as he distanced himself from Ms Braverman’s controversial remarks. He told Sky News: "I would never demonise people coming to this country in pursuit of a better life. I understand and appreciate our obligation to refugees."
Chief Inspector of Prisons Charlie Taylor said the Home Office needs to “get a grip” of the situation at Manston. “What’s happening at Manston, when I visited, was people were sleeping on the floors, on the rubber mats down on the floors, and then very thin blankets or mattresses. Lots and lots of people in a room, all squished in together, very uncomfortable," he said.
Shadow home secretary Yvette Cooper accused Ms Braverman of ramping up her rhetoric because she had no answers to the problems. “No home secretary serious about public safety or national security would use the language Suella Braverman did the day after a petrol bomb attack on a Dover centre,” Ms Cooper said. “But that’s the point. She isn’t serious about any of those things.”
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