Old Bailey fire believed ‘accidental’ as famous courthouse remains closed

A fire which broke out inside the Old Bailey is not being treated as suspicious despite the building’s status as a high-value terrorism target.

On Wednesday morning, 1,500 people were evacuated and two had to be rescued from lifts after a fire broke out inside the Central Criminal Court in central London.

The building, which houses 18 courtrooms, remained closed for emergency works on Thursday and London Fire Brigade confirmed the cause is being treated as “accidental”.

UK Power Networks said the “incident” in one of its electricity substations at the Old Bailey was “being investigated”.

Professor Matthew Feldman said: “Some neo-Nazi revolutionaries have turned towards infrastructural attacks as potentially less guarded and secure and something that could set off wider societal breakdown after which they can take control.

“A year ago, neo-Nazi Brandon Russell, who has links with far-right extremists in the UK, was charged with the Baltimore power grid plot in the United States while he was on parole for explosive offences.

“Whether it is just a coincidence or something that does have some causality about it, there is no doubt this is something that is being increasingly advocated by neo-Nazi revolutionaries.”

The Old Bailey is the world’s most famous criminal court and has high levels of security as it hears major criminal cases, including murder and terrorism trials.

On Wednesday morning, a member of security staff had raised the alarm after hearing a loud explosion, the London Fire Brigade said.

The lights went out, plunging some windowless courtrooms into complete darkness, as acrid black smoke was seen billowing from the rear of the building in Warwick Lane.

Four fire engines and 25 firefighters were called to the scene as a crowds of barristers in black gowns and wigs gathered at the front of the building.

Later, defendants were seen being escorted by police out of a side exit and into waiting prison vans to be returned to jail.

He told PA: “We can confirm that the fire was within the Old Bailey office block.

“There was a security officer that initially described hearing an explosion from an electricity substation on the ground floor and that was the first of seven emergency calls to London Fire Brigade.

“Four fire engines were involved in tackling the fire, with 1,500 people evacuated.”

He said firefighters had to wait for UK Power Networks before they could safely enter the area to tackle the blaze.

He added: “Following an assessment, the fire was found to have burnt itself out within the substation.”

“An electrical event has taken place associated with the substation. There was nothing suspicious about the fire,” he said.

He added: “Because the electrical supply went down, we led two people stuck in lifts to safety. We did assist two people. They were absolutely fine.

“It looks like damage was contained to just the substation.”

Cases which had been due to be heard at the Central Criminal Court on Thursday were put off.

They included the ongoing trial of Constance Marten and her partner, Mark Gordon, for the manslaughter of their baby daughter, and the televised sentencing of three people for the “sadistic” murder of Shakira Spencer.

A spokesman for UK Power Networks told PA that it would be investigating the electrical fault in its substation.

In a statement, the company said: “UK Power Networks engineers were called to Paternoster Square in London at 11.10am yesterday after a fire was reported which has affected power supplies.

“We are working in conjunction with the customer, whose preference was for a permanent repair rather than a temporary fix.

“Our teams are working safely, round the clock to replace electrical equipment which was substantially damaged by the fire, which will take several days to replace.”

On Wednesday, temporary chief inspector Tom Fisher, of City of London Police, said: “There is no indication at this stage that this is anything other than an incident involving an electrical sub station.”