A Ukrainian accused of arson attacks on property linked to Sir Keir Starmer was offered £3,000 from a Russian-speaking taskmaster to torch a car, a court heard. 

Roman Lavrynovych, 22, allegedly plotted to set fire to the car and two houses in north London last May on the promise of cryptocurrency from a Telegram contact with the pseudonym 'El Money'.

A Toyota RAV4 owned by the Prime Minister was allegedly set alight on May 8 2025 on a road in Kentish Town. 

Giving evidence to the Old Bailey on Friday, Lavrynovych said El Money contacted him with a 'job of setting a car on fire' and offered £3,000 in cryptocurrency. 

James Scobie KC, defending, asked: 'What did you have to achieve to get that?'

Lavrynovych, assisted by an interpreter, replied: 'He wanted me to set a car on fire and send a video of this.'

Mr Scobie then asked: 'How did you view doing the job alone, as opposed to having someone with you?'

The defendant replied: 'I think if I would have anyone else I would feel support and the job could be done quicker and I would not be scared as much.'

Lavrynovych said El Money told him the job to set fire to the Toyota RAV4 was linked to a 'high profile person' - and would only be paid if the fire ended up 'on the news'.

He is accused alongside Petro Pochynok, 35 and Stanislav Carpiuc, 27, of a conspiracy to torch two homes and a car linked to Sir Keir. 

One blaze started on May 12 at Sir Keir's home before he moved to Downing Street, which he now rents to his sister-in-law.

Another started on May 11 at the front door of another property in Islington, previously managed by Sir Keir.

The three men, all from London, deny conspiring along with others to damage property by fire between April 1 and May 13 2025.

Lavrynovych denies two counts of damaging property with intent to endanger life.

When he was arrested, Lavrynovych told police he felt 'threatened' by El Money, the court was told. 

The construction worker told jurors he agreed to do separate 'jobs' for El Money because he desperately needed money to send back to his sick father in Ukraine.

Lavrynovych said El Money first contacted him at the end of 2024 on a Telegram group used by several thousand job seekers. He claimed the only details he knew about El Money included them speaking both Ukrainian and Russian.

One 'job' in December 2024 involved Lavrynovych being instructed to spray graffiti on an Islamic community centre in south London, in which he was paid £20 and the cost of the materials. 

Once completed, he messaged El Money 'graffiti worked like clockwork', the court heard. 

Mr Scobie asked if it had been 'offensive, racist, unpleasant graffiti', as jurors had seen on a similar building. Lavrynovych replied: 'Yes, something like that.'

During a separate 'job' in April 2025, El Money asked Lavrynovych to put up posters on a road in Southall, west London, with a message connecting mosques with crime. 

Lavrynovych told the court he knew it was 'illegal', having been 'instructed' to 'work at night and use a facemask and gloves'.

He did not follow through with the job because he thought it was 'propaganda' and he 'might be caught', jurors heard. 

Up until this point, Lavrynovych claimed he had faced no previous backlash from El Money when turning down jobs. 

However when it came to setting the car alight, he said El Money talked in a 'different way' and changed 'tactics'. 

The court heard Lavrynovych told his friend Carpiuc, to whom he had introduced to El Money, about torching the car - along with his added concerns surrounding the job. 

When questioned on Friday about why he was scared, he said: 'Because the job was about setting fire to a car. Because I had never done this kind of job before.'

Lavrynovych added: 'He said I better do this job because he knows where I live and it might be dangerous for myself.

'He told me that he knows which area I live in London and who I live with...'

The defendant claimed El Money knew he was living in Sydenham, along with his grandmother and her elderly friend. 

He added they did not know about his work, saying: 'I think they would not have reacted in a good manner. They would have told me to leave this country probably.'

Mr Scobie asked Lavrynovych why he committed to 'that first arson', in which he replied: 'Because I felt that there is a threat towards myself and the other people, my family.' 

Lavrynovych, Ukrainian Pochynok and Romanian Carpiuc deny conspiracy to damage property by fire between April 1 and May 13 last year.

Lavrynovych also denies damaging two properties by fire with intent to endanger life or being reckless as to whether life was endangered on May 11 and 12 last year.

The Old Bailey trial continues.