On the night of 12 May 2025 the front door of Prime Minister Keir Starmer's house on Countess Road in Kentish Town was set on fire; since his move to Downing Street the house had been occupied by members of his family, who were asleep upstairs. The perpetrator used a modified mixture of flammable substances. One of the occupants saw smoke and an orange glow by the door and called 999; smoke filled the stairway, she struggled to breathe, and her nine-year-old daughter was woken by the smoke. The fire brigade arrived promptly and nobody was injured. The court found that the perpetrator acted on the instructions of a person known as "EL Money", whom he did not know, for money. This was the third fire in the series of 8, 11 and 12 May. The court did not establish who ordered the attacks; counter-terrorism police found no evidence of a foreign state's involvement.
Responsibility and limits of the evidence
unresolved
The case was looked at and not settled, or the findings are disputed or have been rejected.
Central Criminal Court (Old Bailey), sędzia Garnham / 2026-06-19 / carrying out the act
The court found that the perpetrator acted on the instructions of a man he knew only as "EL" ("EL Money"), whom he had never met, for promised money, and was to him "a useful idiot" used "for some unknown cause". The court did not establish who EL is or whom he worked for. Counter-terrorism police said after the verdict that there was no evidence the attacks were sponsored by a hostile state; the prosecution described the perpetrators' motive as financial. The verdict concerns the perpetrators, not whoever ordered the acts.
finality not established
Impact
killed
0
injured
0
damage
property damage
The court found that no one was injured; the occupants, including a nine-year-old child, were exposed to smoke.
Source discrepancy
Malcontent's pin for 12 May (51.538, -0.103) lies in Islington, while the sentencing remarks place the 12 May fire on Countess Road in Kentish Town. The address from the judgment is adopted.
What happened next
Old Bailey: Roman Lavrynovych sentenced to 7 years and Stanislav Carpiuc to 2 years for conspiracy to commit arson reckless as to endangering life; the third defendant, Petro Pochynok, was acquitted. A sentencing does not create a new incident on the timeline; whether the judgment is final is not established.