In the beginning four fire engines and 25 firefighters were at the scene. The fire service advised people to avoid the area and said traffic was likely to be affected.
The BBC journalist Nick Johnson was at the court when the fire began. On X, he said: “Black acrid smoke coming from rear of central criminal court, Old Bailey – lights flickered inside before it was evacuated – firefighter says fire in section of building where electrical substation sits.”
He told the BBC he had heard an electrical humming before the courtroom went dark, followed by an alarm over a sound system telling people to leave the building quickly. He added that there was a smell of smoke similar to when a lightbulb blows.
All proceedings at the court have been postponed. The trial of Constance Marten and Mark Gordon, who are accused of manslaughter by gross negligence after their newborn daughter died while they were on the run from authorities, was paused because of the fire.
The Times journalist David Brown said there was a “series of explosions heard from the building next to the Old Bailey for
Boy, 16, arrested
