Court Hears Details of Arson Attacks on Properties Linked to UK Prime Minister Starmer

The defendants, Roman Lavrynovych, 22, Petro Pochynok, 35, and Stanislav Carpiuc, 27, are accused of conspiring to damage property by fire between April 1 and May 13, 2025. Lavrynovych faces additional charges of damaging two properties by fire with intent to endanger life, or alternatively being reckless as to whether life was endangered.

The incidents occurred over five days in north London.

The final attack targeted a house owned by Starmer and occupied by his sister-in-law, Judith Alexander, along with her partner and daughter. This property, also in Kentish Town, had been Starmer's residence until May 2024. The fire started at the entrance around 1 a.m.

In a statement read to the court, Alexander described hearing two loud bangs like wheelie bins thrown at the door while she was awake in bed. She saw black billowing smoke and an orange glow at the front door, then called 999 for the fire brigade. Alexander, who has asthma, said she was scared and struggling to breathe as smoke filled the house.

Her daughter, woken by the smoke, was really frightened, and they wore Covid masks while waiting upstairs. Alexander tried to call her sister, Lady Victoria Starmer, but could not reach anyone.

“I was scared. I called 999 and asked for the fire brigade.”

After the fire brigade arrived, Alexander reflected on the danger, noting her daughter's room was right above the fire and what might have happened if she had not woken up. She stayed awake all night.

Prosecutors stated the attacks were orchestrated by a Russian-speaking Telegram contact known as 'El Money,' who offered payment in cryptocurrency. ' CCTV footage shown in court depicted Lavrynovych buying white spirit at a B&Q store near his Lewisham address two days before the car fire.

In a police interview, Lavrynovych initially denied involvement but later said 'El' offered him £1,500 to check for CCTV and provided instructions, though he claimed he did not commit arson and felt threatened.

“I felt threatened. He threatened me by saying that I would have to do the job as he knew where I lived.”

Pochynok and Carpiuc made no comment in their police interviews. All three defendants, who live in London, deny the charges.

The trial began this week and is expected to last three weeks, continuing into late May. Jurors heard witness evidence related to all three attacks, including accounts of smoke filling the targeted house and the family's response. Prosecutor Duncan Atkinson presented the messaging evidence, while Sarah Przybylska read Alexander's statement.

The case involves Ukrainian nationals Lavrynovych and Pochynok, and Ukrainian-born Romanian national Carpiuc.