Latest news with #TufnellPark
Telegraph
19-05-2025
- Politics
- Telegraph
Third man arrested over Starmer firebombs
A third man has been arrested in connection with the alleged arson attacks targeting Sir Keir Starmer, the Prime Minister. Scotland Yard arrested a 34-year-old man on Monday in Chelsea on suspicion of conspiracy to commit arson with intent to endanger life. The man was taken into custody after an investigation led by counter-terror police from the Eastern Region Special Operations Unit. He is the third suspect to be arrested in connection with the suspected firebomb attacks between May 8 and 12 against two properties and a car linked to Sir Keir. The first incident occurred in the early hours of Thursday morning last week. A Toyota Rav 4 which used to belong to Sir Keir but had been sold to a neighbour following the general election was damaged by fire. Two days later, a flat in Islington that Sir Keir used to own in the 1990s was allegedly targeted. Then, in the early hours of Monday morning, the Prime Minister's family home in Tufnell Park, which is rented out to his sister-in-law, was set alight. While nobody was hurt at the property, the front door and entrance area were damaged. Counter-terror police began investigating a number of potential motives, including whether a hostile state was behind the attacks. First and second arrests A 26-year-old man was arrested around 1.45pm on Saturday at Luton Airport on suspicion of conspiracy to commit arson with intent to endanger life. Separately, Roman Lavrynovych, 21, of Sydenham, south London, was arrested, charged and appeared in court earlier this week in connection with three counts of arson with intent to endanger life. Mr Lavrynovych was remanded in custody after a hearing at Westminster magistrates' court. The court was told he lived with his grandmother and was asleep at their property when police raided it in the early hours of Tuesday morning. Speaking in the House of Commons on Wednesday, Sir Keir told MPs that attacks against politicians were an attack on democracy. 'He really liked the UK' Mr Lavrynovych's father said that his son was a proud Ukrainian but had always admired the UK. Mykola Lavrynovych, 48, added: 'Roman came to London for the first time when he was 10 years old. He spent a year, as his mother was working there. 'He went to a British school and studied there for one year. When the invasion started, he left Ukraine for Germany, but after a year he moved to London, which he really liked and wanted to stay there.' His father went on: 'He has an uncle who is fighting on the front line against the Russians and he is 100 per cent pro-Ukrainian. He has never spoken Russian and doesn't allow his sister and brother or anybody else even to listen to Russian music.' Roman Lavrynovych was initially living with his mother and younger siblings but when his sister was unable to get a school place in London, she returned to Ukraine and he remained, living with his grandmother. He set up a building company but had also signed with a modelling agency and was a regular at a gym in Sydenham, south London. Photographs of Mr Lavrynovych on social media show him doing press-ups in his bedroom. His father said Mr Lavyronvych had been happy and settled in the UK and had a girlfriend who was also Ukrainian. He added that he had spoken to him on the telephone just hours before his arrest in the early hours of Tuesday morning. Appearing before magistrates in Westminster on Friday morning, he spoke only to confirm his name and date of birth via a Ukrainian interpreter, with his lawyer saying his English was 'very limited'.
Telegraph
15-05-2025
- Politics
- Telegraph
Ukrainian man charged over fires at homes linked to Keir Starmer
A Ukrainian national has been charged in connection with a series of arson attacks which appeared to target Sir Keir Starmer. Roman Lavrynovych, 21, is charged with three counts of arson with intent to endanger life. They relate to an attack on the Prime Minister's home on May 12, the entrance of a property linked to Sir Keir on May 11, and an electric vehicle fire on May 8, police said. He will appear at Westminster Magistrates Court on Friday. Counter-terror police have been leading the investigation. A suspicious blaze broke out at a property in Tufnell Park, north London, where the Prime Minister lived while in opposition, just after 1.30am on Monday. It followed a suspected arson attack at a second north London property linked to Sir Keir 24 hours earlier, and an electric car fire on May 8. Nobody was hurt in the blaze at Sir Keir's family home, which is being rented out to Lady Starmer's sister for a peppercorn rent. Neighbours in the quiet, tree-lined street described how they were woken by a loud bang in the early hours. Charles Grant, 66, who lives on the same road, said: 'I heard a loud noise at around midnight. I was half asleep. It was some sort of bang. I went back to sleep. I don't think the damage was too extensive as the house is still standing. 'The front door and the brickwork on either side is black and charred but the door is still standing. It smells of burnt stuff. The police said the damage is not extensive – just needs a bit of paintwork.'
Telegraph
12-05-2025
- Politics
- Telegraph
Police investigate fire at Keir Starmer's home
A fire at Sir Keir Starmer's north London home that broke out in the early hours of Monday is being investigated by police. The property in Countess Road, Tufnell Park, was attended by the London Fire Brigade (LFB) after a report was made after 1.30am on Monday. Sir Keir is letting out the four-bedroom home in north London, which is believed to be worth about £2 million. The LFB attended and the fire was extinguished. Police said the entrance to the terraced house was damaged, but nobody was injured. A Downing Street spokesman said: 'The Prime Minister thanks the emergency services for their work. The incident is subject to a live investigation and we won't be commenting further.' A Scotland Yard spokesman said: 'On Monday, May 12 at 01:35hrs, police were alerted by the London Fire Brigade to reports of a fire at a residential address in Countess Road, NW5. 'Officers attended the scene. Damage was caused to the property's entrance, nobody was hurt. The fire is being investigated and cordons remain in place while enquiries continue.' In a separate incident last year, three people were found guilty of public order offences after a pro-Palestine demonstration outside the house. Leonorah Ward, 21, Daniel Formentin, 24, and Zosia Lewis, 23, were also found guilty of breaching court bail but avoided jail over the protest. The trio hung a banner outside the house that said 'Starmer stop the killing', surrounded by red handprints, on Apr 9 2024 in protest against his stance on the Israel-Gaza conflict. The protesters, from the Youth Demand organisation, also placed four rows of children's shoes in front of the property to represent children killed in Gaza. Lady Starmer said she felt 'a bit sick' when she returned to the home where the family was living at the time and her son saw the protest. 'I didn't want to stop [the car] and be obvious,' she told the court. Asked how seeing the protest had made her feel, she replied: 'I felt a bit sick, to be perfectly honest. I felt apprehensive and uncomfortable.' David Lammy, the Foreign Secretary, was also targeted by pro-Palestine protesters at his home in north London last month. Two female activists, also from the Youth Demand group, laid child-sized body bags at his doorstep and erected a sign over his hedge which read 'Lammy Stop Arming Genocide'. Mr Lammy was not at home during the protest by the activists, who were told by police officers to leave and not to return for at least three months. The fire at Sir Keir's home is likely to fuel fears about the safety of MPs that have grown in recent years after a number of incidents targeting elected politicians. Safety measures have been stepped up in the wake of two MPs being killed in the past decade. Jo Cox, a Labour MP, was shot in June 2016, while Sir David Amess, a Conservative MP, was stabbed at his constituency surgery in 2021.
