June 19 (UPI) — Two men were sentenced to jail for arson attacks on property connected to British Prime Minister Keir Starmer.
Roman Lavrynovych, 22, is from Ukraine. He was sentenced to seven years in prison for conspiring to commit arson on a car and two properties linked to Starmer. Stanislav Carpiuc, 27, of Romania, was sentenced to two years in prison.
Lavrynovych was also convicted of damaging two properties by fire and being reckless as to whether life was endangered.
The two men were found guilty on Monday. A third man, Petro Pochynok, 35, from Ukraine, was acquitted.
Trial evidence showed that the two were recruited by an anonymous Russian-speaking person on Telegram. The person, who went by “El Money,” offered Lavrynovych money to set the fires, record them and get them broadcast on TV.
A Toyota Rav4 that was once owned by Starmer was set on fire on May 8, 2025. Another fire was set on May 11 at the front door of a property in London that Starmer had managed in the past. On May 12, there was another fire set at Starmer’s former home in Kentish Town, where his sister-in-law and her family lived.
During the trial, Lavrynovych said he didn’t know who Starmer was and just “wanted some additional money.” He said he didn’t know the homes were occupied.
At the sentencing, which was televised, Justice Neil Garnham spoke mostly to Lavrynovych.
“You agreed to carry out this mindless piece of arson for money. You were not a man of great principle, and you were easily bought,” The Guardian reported he said.
“You only had to look around the street to realize these premises in this street were residential. But you really did not care about that,” Garnham said. He told Lavrynovych that he was “utterly reckless about the risk you were creating.”
Garnham said he realized that Lavrynovych and Carpiuc hadn’t instigated the arsons but described Lavrynovych as a “useful idiot” who was easily manipulated.
“You were used by El to advance some agenda or cause of which you knew nothing. You were essentially acting as a pawn for some unknown cause and putting the lives of people asleep in their beds at risk as a result,” Garnham said.
Lavrynovych’s lawyer James Scobie, described him as “utterly naive, utterly gullible, unthinking” and a “complete and utter footsoldier.”
“How worrying that is for us all that there are individuals like this who are fodder for this type of infiltration,” Scobie said.
Commander Helen Flanagan, head of Counter Terrorism Policing London, praised the swift work of the investigation team.
“Crimes, such as arson, being directed by anonymous online accounts promising payment is a recurring trend in our casework.”
