£3,000 crypto bribe for arson: Two guilty in proxy attack on PM-linked property

For legal practitioners, this verdict is a milestone in defining liability for cyber-recruited mercenaries. The prosecution successfully convicted the foot soldiers while a shadowy Russian-speaking handler remains at large, forcing courts to grapple with how to deter anonymous remote instigation without eroding due process. The case will resonate in boardrooms and barristers' chambers alike as a blueprint for linking encrypted commands to physical crimes.

The Old Bailey has delivered a stark verdict on the growing phenomenon of criminal proxies: two men recruited via Telegram to torch property linked to the Prime Minister were found guilty on June 15, 2026, after a seven-and-a-half-hour jury deliberation. Ukrainian Roman Lavrynovych (22) was convicted of damaging two properties by fire with recklessness as to life endangerment, while Romanian Stanislav Carpiuc (27) was found guilty of conspiracy to damage property; a third defendant, Petro Pochynok, was cleared of all charges. The attacks, which took place over a few days in May 2025, targeted a Toyota Rav4 once owned by Sir Keir Starmer, then two houses — including a north London home still owned by the PM and occupied by his sister-in-law’s family — as residents slept. The plot was orchestrated by an anonymous Russian-speaking Telegram user known as 'El Money,' who offered Lavrynovych £3,000 in cryptocurrency, stipulating that the blazes be filmed and attract news coverage.

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The plot was orchestrated by an anonymous Russian-speaking Telegram user known as 'El Money,' who offered Lavrynovych £3,000 in cryptocurrency, stipulating that the blazes be filmed and attract news coverage.

The case illuminates the operational model of 'crime-as-a-service,' in which handlers like El Money leverage encrypted platforms and digital currencies to convert vulnerable individuals into front-line offenders while maintaining anonymity and distance. Despite the involvement of Counter Terrorism Policing (CTP) London, Commander Helen Flanagan stressed there was no evidence of a state threat or ideological motivation; the two convicted men were purely mercenary actors. This distinction has profound legal implications. It separates the prosecution of proxy attacks from counterterrorism statutes, which carry different evidentiary hurdles and sentencing regimes, and puts the focus on conspiracy, arson, and reckless endangerment under the Offences Against the Person Act 1861 and the Criminal Damage Act 1971.

From an evidentiary standpoint, the swift arrests — within a week of the May 11-12 attacks — underscore the value of digital forensics. Telegram communications, cryptocurrency transaction trails, and cell-site data likely formed the backbone of the Crown's case. The 7.5-hour deliberation suggests the jury carefully weighed the intent and knowledge of the defendants, particularly whether they understood they were targeting the Prime Minister. The acquittal of Pochynok hints at the evidentiary difficulties of proving joint enterprise when criminal proxies act at different levels of awareness. The verdicts on Lavrynovych — who faced additional charges of reckless endangerment — demonstrate that courts can parse degrees of culpability even within a single conspiracy.