The Prime Minister said “justice had been done” after the conviction of Roman Lavrynovych and Stanislav Carpiuc
A “useful idiot” is among a pair who have been jailed for a series of arson attacks targeting Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer on the orders of a shadowy Russian-speaking taskmaster. Roman Lavrynovych set fire to a car and two houses linked to the Prime Minister in North London in May last year.
He was acting on the instructions of an anonymous Telegram user called El or El Money, as noted in his phone, who was reportedly linked to a Russian online sabotage network. On Friday (June 19), The Honourable Mr Justice Garnham sentenced Ukrainian Lavrynovych, 22, and Romanian Stanislav Carpiuc, 27, to seven and two years in prison respectively.
The Old Bailey judge called Lavrynovych a “useful idiot” who took the “leading role” in the acts and sentenced him to concurrent sentences for: two counts of damaging property by fire, being reckless as to whether life would be endangered and one count of conspiracy to damage property by fire. He will serve four of these in custody.
Lavrynovych’s lawyer, James Scobie KC, described him as “unintelligent” and said he “has gained absolutely nothing from this.” “He was used,” he said, characterising Lavrynovych as “utterly naive, utterly gullible, unthinking, a complete and utter foot soldier.”
Carpiuc will serve one year in custody for one count of conspiracy to damage property by fire. On May 11 and 12, 2025 two houses were set ablaze, including the Prime Minister’s home which has been occupied by his sister-in-law since he moved to Downing Street.
The defence argued Lavrynovych was a vulnerable man who was only in it for money and had no idea who he was targeting. The North London attacks were carried out in the middle of the night while people were in bed asleep posed a serious threat to life and left householders terrified, the Old Bailey heard.
The court heard how El Money had offered Lavrynovych £3,000 in cryptocurrency if the blazes were filmed and got on the news. In the aftermath, El Money encouraged Lavrynovych to flee, saying: “Look, you attacked the home of a very high-ranking person in Britain. I’ll send you money, you need to leave the city.”
Lavrynovych was charged on May 15 last year and Carpiuc was stopped at Luton Airport as he waited for a flight to Romania two days later. In his defence, construction worker Lavrynovych, from Sydenham, in South London, admitted the arson attacks but claimed he had been threatened by El Money.
Hotel worker Carpiuc, from Romford, in East London, said he had refused to get involved and told Lavrynovych the plan was “stupid”. On Monday, an Old Bailey jury rejected their explanations and found them guilty of plotting to damage property.
Lavrynovych was also convicted of damaging two properties by fire being reckless as to whether life was endangered. The judge said he did not accept the defence’s argument that Lavrynovych was not aware the houses were occupied as it was clearly a residential street and it was likely for anyone living there to be in bed in the early hours of the morning.
Mr Justice Garnham said: “You neither knew or cared about that but you just accepted the job like you had accepted other grubby little tasks.” He added that one resident’s “nine year old daughter was woken by the smoke and was terrified”.
Lavrynovych’s lawyers said “El” was using the 22-year-old “as a vehicle to try and get at the prime minister and get publicity” and he thought both residential houses were empty. “If I was to mention his mother he would well up in tears,” his lawyer said, adding that he has “genuine shame and remorse for what he has done” and he has bought shame on his family in Ukraine.
The judge noted he did not follow that sentiment through to a plea. The defence noted that there was never any conversation between El Money and Lavrynovych about harming people and that he never posted the fires through the letter boxes, which would have caused more harm. The defence said: “The unsophisticated nature of his offending was laughable.”
The judge noted that setting fire to a door prevents exit from a home. The prosecution said the victim impact statement sets out the impact on the owner of the property and their child. The upstairs residents of one property saw smoke billowing up their stairs.
Carpiuc’s barrister Shahid Rashid said his client was “always the money man”. He told the court: “His function was to realise the cryptocurrency. It is also important he was not going to get anything out of it. His motivation was helping a friend out who needed money desperately for his father’s medical treatment.”
Reports in the Financial Times and BBC on Monday suggested Lavrynovych had been recruited several months earlier. The El Money account had links to a sabotage network based in Russia. Police recovered more than 320 messages between El Money and Lavrynovych on Telegram dating back to September 2024.
The anonymous handler, writing in Russian, offered Lavrynovych £3,000 in cryptocurrency if he set the fires, filmed them and got them on the news. Last May, Lavrynovych had set fire to a Toyota Rav4 which was once owned by Sir Keir.
According to reports, El Money has been linked to a Russian online sabotage network. But Counter Terrorism Policing say it has found no evidence leading to any specific person, group or organisation to be associated with the El Money social media account.
The Prime Minister said “justice had been done” after the conviction of Roman Lavrynovych and Stanislav Carpiuc. “I am pleased in that respect, particularly for my family,” said Keir Starmer.
Speaking at the G7 conference in France, where further sanctions were imposed on Russia for its war in Ukraine, Starmer said the case “has to be seen in its broader context”.
“There’s no evidence to suggest that they knew who they were targeting, and that that was the prime minister,” said Helen Flanagan, head of Counter Terrorism Policing London.
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