Lavrynovych Says Threats Forced 2025 Starmer Arson Attacks as Trial Hears He Took £3,000 Job
Updated
Updated · BBC.com · May 11
Lavrynovych Says Threats Forced 2025 Starmer Arson Attacks as Trial Hears He Took £3,000 Job
2 articles · Updated · BBC.com · May 11
Roman Lavrynovych, 22, told the Old Bailey he set fires at properties and a car linked to Prime Minister Keir Starmer only after threats from a Russian-speaking Telegram recruiter and without intent to endanger life.
Lavrynovych said the user, “El Money,” turned threatening after he initially refused, warning he knew where Lavrynovych lived; the defendant also said he needed money for his father’s medical treatment in Ukraine.
Jurors heard he was offered £3,000 in cryptocurrency to burn a Toyota RAV4, then was directed to target a nearby building after the first attack was deemed unsatisfactory and “not on the news.”
The charges cover a conspiracy between 1 April and 13 May 2025 involving Lavrynovych, Petro Pochynok, 35, and Stanislav Carpiuc, 27; all three deny the allegations, and the other two have yet to testify.
The alleged attacks culminated in a 12 May fire at Starmer’s Kentish Town house, where his sister-in-law and her family were home, before Lavrynovych was arrested hours later.
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