Overview
- A Chelmsford Crown Court jury found Abdulrahman guilty of two counts of arson reckless as to whether life is endangered.
- Investigators said he set mattresses alight on March 28, 2025, at the Phoenix Hotel in North Weald, destroying a wing, and on April 5 at the Bell Hotel in Epping, damaging a room and corridor.
- Both properties were being used to accommodate asylum seekers, and no fatalities or serious injuries were reported after staff raised alarms and fire crews responded.
- Essex County Fire and Rescue Service concluded the Phoenix blaze was deliberate with a mattress as the origin and reported a risk of multiple fatalities due to rapid fire development.
- Police linked the incidents through similarities, arrested the 37-year-old, and he remains in custody awaiting sentencing on April 24.