Detectives in Islington have released an image of a potential witness to the attempted arson at Finsbury Park Mosque.

The man was present outside the mosque on St Thomas’s Road, N4 at 20:25hrs on Friday, 27 November. The footage shows him walking past a man, who seconds later approached the mosque with a bag that contained a jerry can filled with petrol, attempt to set it alight and hurl it into the compound of the mosque.

The man captured on the CCTV released today could provide valuable information and police need to speak with him as a matter of urgency.

Previously, police released CCTV images which capture the suspect, who is described as a white man wearing a white hooded jumper, a white baseball cap and blue jeans. He is believed to have fled the scene on a moped.

This incident is being treated as an Islamophobic hate crime.

Detective Constable Gavin Went, the investigating officer from Islington Borough, said: “This man may hold valuable information to help us with our investigation. I would urge him to come forward and speak with officers.”

High visibility patrols have been stepped up in the area following this incident.

Anyone with information is asked to contact Islington CID on 020 7421 0262 or via 101. Alternatively contact Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111 or via crimestoppers-uk.org

The Metropolitan Police Service is committed to tackling hate crime in all its forms, and has long since recognised the impact of hate crime on communities and the hidden nature of this crime, which remains largely under reported.

Positive action is taken to investigate all hate crime allegations, support victims and their families and bring perpetrators to justice. The MPS always seeks ways to increase reporting and work with a number of third party reporting sites, so that victims who would otherwise feel unable to approach police direct can report crime to non-police organisations and individuals such as TellMAMA for Islamophobic incidents and the Community Security Trust (CST) for anti-Semitic hate crime.

Victims of hate crime can also now report online via the website at: https://online.met.police.uk/