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Judge Rules East Melbourne Synagogue Arson Driven by Untreated Schizophrenia, Not Antisemitism

01:36 PM, 11/24/2025
Judge Rules East Melbourne Synagogue Arson Driven by Untreated Schizophrenia, Not Antisemitism

Magistrate Malcolm Thomas found that Angelo Loras set fire to the East Melbourne Synagogue while experiencing delusions after stopping medication for schizophrenia, not out of antisemitic intent. Loras, 35, pleaded guilty to arson and recklessly placing people at risk; no worshippers were injured. He was sentenced to four months (less than the 138 days already served) and ordered to undergo 20 months of psychiatric treatment and unpaid community work. The court was advised against pursuing A$54,000 in restitution due to Loras’s prolonged homelessness and lack of prior convictions.

An Australian magistrate has concluded that the man who set fire to the East Melbourne Synagogue while worshippers were inside acted out of a severe mental health episode rather than a hate-motivated crime.

Angelo Loras, 35, pleaded guilty to arson and recklessly placing people at risk of death after pouring a flammable liquid on the synagogue’s front door and igniting it on July 4. Around 20 people were inside sharing a Shabbat meal at the time; miraculously, no one was injured.

Magistrate Malcolm Thomas found that Loras had been experiencing a terrifying delusion after stopping medication for schizophrenia and was not motivated by antisemitism. Thomas sentenced Loras to four months’ imprisonment — a term shorter than the 138 days he had already spent in custody. Although Loras became eligible for release at sentencing, the court ordered him to undergo 20 months of psychiatric treatment and to complete unpaid community work.

Police said Loras was arrested two days after the incident and told officers he believed the building was a residential address. The magistrate advised the congregation not to pursue a restitution order for the roughly A$54,000 (about US$35,000) in damage, noting Loras had been homeless for an extended period and has no prior criminal record.

Context and related incidents

The attack occurred amid a marked rise in reported antisemitic and Islamophobic incidents across Australia since the 2023 Israel–Hamas war. Federal authorities have separately attributed a December arson at another Melbourne synagogue, Adass Israel, and a March attack on a Sydney kosher business to Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps — allegations Tehran denies.

The synagogue arson was one of three suspected antisemitic incidents in Melbourne over the weekend of July 4–6. On July 5, about 20 masked protesters disrupted diners at an Israeli-owned restaurant: windows were cracked, tables overturned and chairs thrown as the crowd chanted “Death to the IDF.” Police also investigated graffiti and an early-morning arson attack that damaged three vehicles linked to a local business; officers reported antisemitic "inferences" at those scenes but gave no further detail.

This ruling underscores the interplay between mental health issues and public safety, and it highlights challenges for courts and communities in distinguishing between ideologically motivated attacks and incidents driven by untreated psychiatric illness.

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Judge Rules East Melbourne Synagogue Arson Driven by Untreated Schizophrenia, Not Antisemitism - CRBC News