by Daniel Wittenberg and Jess Warren, BBC
An investigation has been launched after a car was driven towards three Jewish schoolchildren in north-west London.
The Metropolitan Police said it was treating the incident on Holders Hill Road, Finchley, as “religiously aggravated assault”.
The head teacher of Hasmonean High School for Boys said in a letter to parents on Wednesday that police were appealing for witnesses after what the school called an “antisemitic traffic incident.”
The father of one of the three 14-year-old boys involved said he believed the driver was trying to “terrorise” the children.
The school’s letter said the car had mounted the kerb around 15:40 BST on 20 April, and the children had been forced to move out of the way, but no-one was injured.
The father said his son was “shaken”.
Speaking to the BBC, he said: “There were dozens of kids walking around in kippot [skullcaps]. Three of them – my son and two friends – were round the corner from the school waiting to cross the road.
“A black saloon car was waiting on the inside lane closest to them. As the lights turned green, the car sped up significantly and mounted the kerb where they were standing. They jumped backwards out of the way as the car hurtled towards them and then the car sped off. Had they not jumped, they would have been hit.”