Three arson attacks on two properties and a vehicle linked to Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer were ordered by a Russian-speaking Telegram contact called “El Money” who offered cryptocurrency payment, jurors have been told.
Ukrainians Roman Lavrynovych, 22, Petro Pochynok, 35, and Romanian Stanislav Carpiuc, 27, are on trial for allegedly plotting the arson attacks in Kentish Town, north London last year.
Lavrynovych, from Lewisham, southeast London, has also been charged with damaging two properties by fire with intent to endanger life.
Today, prosecutor Duncan Atkinson KC set out the prosecution's case, telling jurors the three fires over five days, from the early hours of May 8 to May 12, were all linked to the Prime Minister. He said that this went “beyond coincidence”.
On May 8, a Toyota hybrid car was allegedly set alight on Countess Road in Kentish Town.
Mr Atkinson said that at the time, no one thought the fire was suspicious, but on closer examination, the vehicle fire had been set deliberately. He said the fire started on the driver’s side at the front using a flame.
The court was told three nights later, in the early hours of May 11, a fire was reported at a property on Ellington Street in Kentish Town. The property was managed by a company of which the Prime Minister had once been a director and shareholder.
It was immediately clear to the fire brigade and police that the fire had been set deliberately, the jury heard, with the prosecution claiming a petroleum-like substance, such as white spirit, had been poured onto the front door and then ignited.
Three arson attacks on two properties and a vehicle linked to Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer were ordered by a Russian-speaking Telegram account, jurors have been told
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The fire had then spread into the hallway of the premises, putting the lives of the occupants at risk, the court heard.
One night later, in the early hours of May 12, the third and final fire was reported, this time at a house on Countess Road, near to where the Toyota had been found alight. This fire had clearly been set deliberately, jurors were told, which had started at the front door of the address with the use of white spirit.
The property still belonged to the Prime Minister and was occupied by his sister-in-law. The fire and the smoke that it produced put the occupants of that house at risk, Mr Atkinson said.
Lavrynovych is alleged to have set fire to the front door of the two houses “in the dead of night” when the occupants were asleep.
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Roman Lavrynovych, 22, is charged alongside Petro Pochynok, 35, and Stanislav Carpiuc, 27, over a series of fires in north London last spring
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Mr Atkinson said: “The prosecution’s case is that when he did so he must have intended to endanger – to risk – the lives of the people living inside those houses.
“Why else would you set fire to the front door, blocking the residents’ escape?”
The prosecutor said data evidence and messages recovered from the phones of the defendants showed “communication between them before and during the relevant period.”
Mr Atkinson said that Lavrynovych was offered payment to set the fires by a Russian-speaking Telegram user called “El Money”.
Carpiuc was also said to have communicated with the account, again in Russian.
According to the prosecution, this involved the “promised payment” of cryptocurrency in exchange for Lavrynovych being told which properties to target and how to do so.
Petro Pochynok, 35, is one of three men allegedly offered payment to set fire to a car and two houses linked to Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer by a Russian-speaking contact named 'El Money'
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Over 300 messages were discovered between Lavrynovych and “El Money”, which Mr Atkinson said demonstrated a “good working relationship” and Lavrynovych’s attempts to recruit others.
Mr Atkinson continued: “It also underlines that the motivation for these activities was not fear, but financial reward.”
The prosecutors told jurors that they were not required to consider who “El Money” is and what motivations he might have had in coordinating the arson attacks allegedly carried out by the defendants.
Mr Atkinson said jurors did not need to consider details about “El Money” because they also were not required to decide what motivated the three defendants.
Stanislav Carpiuc appeared at the Old Bailey trial on Wednesday
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The defendants were said to have not demonstrated any political or ideological motivation, but rather than a financial one.
Mr Atkinson also said: “It does not matter whether they knew that the property they were targeting was connected to the Prime Minister or whether that formed part of their motivation.”
CCTV footage was shown in the court, allegedly demonstrating Lavrynovych purchasing white spirit at a B&Q near his south-east London address two days before the Toyota was set on fire.
Later that day, Lavrynovych messaged Carpiuc: “I’m waiting, bitch, listen, it’s an ordinary car” and searched for an address on Countess Road where the vehicle was parked, jurors were told.
“There followed five missed calls, before Lavrynovych searched for … Countess Road on his phone,” Mr Atkinson said.
“He was therefore searching for the approximate location of the … car.”
Screengrab from a video of firefighters tackling a burning car in the same north London street where Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer has a property
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The prosecutor displayed evidence of what he said was the planning and execution of the first arson attack, including an image taken from a video allegedly showing Lavrynovych standing in front of a burning Toyota in the early hours of May 8.
Jurors were told that phone data from the night showed that three defendants were in “pretty constant communication” during the attack.
A video of a fire being set on the doorstep of the second target, the address in Ellington Street, allegedly caused by Roman Lavrynovych, was then shown in court.
The Ellington Street address was managed by a company of which the Prime Minister had once been a director and shareholder.
Mr Atkinson continued: “The fire was set at night, when any such occupants would have been asleep. You may conclude that the risk to the life of those occupants from such a fire on such an occasion at such a time is clear.
“More than that, it would have been clear to the person who came to the address in the dead of night and started that fire. The deliberate setting of that fire, the prosecution say, can only have been with an intent to put the lives of those occupants at risk.”
Roman Lavrynovych was said to have returned to the house “to record evidence of the fire he started the night before.”
The court heard that the third arson attack on Countess Road, at a property still owned by the prime minister, was carried out by Lavrynovych.
The Ukrainian was said to have been “chasing” the Telegram account “El Money” for payment.
Lavrynovych is then said to have been messaged by “El Money” that he had “attacked” the home of a “very high-ranking person in Britain” before making more commitments about payment.
Shortly after this, Lavrynovych is alleged to have then messaged “El Money”: “Any news about where the money was sent to,” before continuing to chase for details about payment and being arrested in the early hours of that night.
The defendants are charged with conspiracy to damage property by fire between April 1 and May 13 last year.
Lavrynovych, of Lewisham, south-east London, Carpiuc, from Romford, east London, and Pochynok, of Islington, north London, have denied the charges against them.
The trial continues.