London Jury Convicts Two Men of Arson but Acquits Third in Attacks on Properties Linked to Keir Starmer
A London jury found Ukrainian national Roman Lavrynovych and Romanian national Stanislav Carpiuc guilty of conspiring to damage property by fire. The attacks targeted a car and two homes connected to the prime minister.
A London jury convicted Ukrainian national Roman Lavrynovych, 22, and Romanian national Stanislav Carpiuc, 27, of conspiring to damage property by fire between 1 April 2025 and 13 May 2025. The Old Bailey jury also convicted Lavrynovych of damaging two properties by fire while being reckless as to whether life was endangered on 11 May 2025 and 12 May 2025.
Petro Pochynok, 35, was found not guilty of conspiracy to commit arson.
The jury deliberated for seven-and-a-half hours before returning the verdicts. Mr Justice Garnham remanded the two convicted defendants into custody for sentencing on Friday. The defendants live in London.
A Toyota previously owned by Keir Starmer was set alight on 8 May 2025 in Kentish Town, north London. Roman Lavrynovych admitted to starting the fire that destroyed the Toyota on 8 May 2025. On 11 May 2025 and 12 May 2025, two homes linked to Keir Starmer were set on fire.
One of the homes was rented to Keir Starmer’s sister-in-law Judith Alexander in Islington. The fires damaged the home Keir Starmer moved out of when he became prime minister, an apartment building he once owned a share of, and destroyed his former Toyota SUV. Nobody was injured in the blazes.
The attacks occurred in the middle of the night while people were asleep. Roman Lavrynovych was recruited via a Russian-language Telegram account by an anonymous user known as 'El Money'. 'El Money' offered Roman Lavrynovych £3,000 in cryptocurrency if the blazes were filmed and appeared in the news.
'El Money' previously tasked Roman Lavrynovych to paint racist graffiti on an Islamic community centre and post anti-Muslim fliers for money. Roman Lavrynovych told the court he believed 'El Money' to be powerful with political connections. Roman Lavrynovych wanted money by 10 May 2025 to pay for his father's medical treatment.
Stanislav Carpiuc told the court that Roman Lavrynovych carried out the first arson attack for money and that he tried to persuade him not to do it. Judith Alexander stated she heard two loud bangs, saw smoke and an orange glow at the front door, and smelled thick smoke creeping upstairs during the Islington fire.
