Two men have been convicted for their involvement in a series of arson attacks on properties and a vehicle connected to the Prime Minister.
Detectives from Counter Terrorism Policing London arrested Roman Lavrynovych and Stanislav Carpiuc within a week of taking charge of the investigation into the arson attacks in north London in May 2025.
Carpiuc, a Romanian national, and Lavrynovych, a Ukrainian national, were both convicted of conspiracy to commit arson after a trial at the Old Bailey.
Lavrynovych was also convicted of two counts of arson being reckless as to whether life would be endangered.
A third man – Petro Pochynok – was found not guilty of conspiracy to commit arson.
Commander Helen Flanagan, head of CTP London, said: “The actions of the two men involved in these arson attacks were incredibly reckless and it was sheer luck that nobody was killed or injured.
“I would like to praise the swift work of the investigation team who identified the men involved within a few days of the fires. This was essential in ensuring that vital forensic and digital evidence was seized before it could be destroyed.
“One of the men – Carpiuc – was arrested at an airport, demonstrating how close he came to fleeing the country and escaping justice.
“Crimes, such as arson, being directed by anonymous online accounts promising payment, is a recurring trend in our casework.
“Our message to anyone who might be approached in this way, or thinking about doing similar, is to think again. As we’ve seen here, you will not get paid as you are promised, you will be identified and brought to justice, and the only thing you will be left with is facing the prospect of a lengthy jail sentence.”
CTP London detectives took charge of the investigation into the series of fires after the third arson attack at a house Islington, north London, on 12 May last year. This property is owned by the Prime Minister Keir Starmer.
The first arson attack took place on 8 May, 2025 when a Toyota car, that formerly belonged to the Prime Minister, was set alight.
On 11 May, 2025 a fire was set in the doorway of another residential property in Islington. The property was managed by a company of which the Prime Minister was formerly a director and shareholder.
Lavrynovych was arrested at his home address on May 13, 2025 after detectives linked him to the scenes via CCTV footage.
Detectives quickly sifted through thousands of messages, many that had to be translated from Ukrainian to English, that revealed the communication between him and Carpiuc, before and after the arson attacks.
Lavrynovych’s phone data history also showed he had carried out reconnaissance ahead of the attacks.
Detectives recovered contact on the Telegram messaging app between Lavrynovych and a contact known as ‘El Money’, which showed he had been recruited, instructed and promised with payment for the fires he was told to start. Police also recovered contact on the Telegram messaging app between Carpiuc and ‘El Money’.
‘El Money’ communicated in Russian, in contrast to the Ukrainian otherwise used by the defendants. Carpiuc also communicated with Lavrynovych about his payment.
Carpiuc was arrested on 17 May, 2025 at the departure lounge at Luton Airport. He was about to get on a flight to Romania.
As well as the digital evidence, counter terrorism detectives forensically linked a pair of Lavrynovych’s trainers to the white spirit used in the Ellington Street fire.
They also recovered a petrol can with his DNA on it and obtained CCTV from B&Q showing him buying white spirit shortly before the arson attacks.
Lavrynovych 22 (06.02.04), of Sydenham, a Ukrainian national, Carpiuc, 27 (15.07.98) of Romford, will be sentenced at the Old Bailey on Friday, 19 June.
Petro Pochynok 35 (25.07.90) of north London, was arrested on Monday, 19 May, in the Chelsea area, SW3, as part of the investigation. Following the trial, he was found not guilty of conspiracy to commit arson.
The original announcement can be found here.
