LONDON: A Romanian national appeared in court on Tuesday (Apr 20), becoming the second man to be charged over a series of fires linked to British Prime Minister Keir Starmer.
The man, 26-year-old Stanislav Carpiuc, who was born in Ukraine, was remanded in custody until a hearing on Jun 6 at London’s Old Bailey court when a decision would be taken as to whether the case would proceed under the terrorism protocol, prosecutor Sarah Przybylska said.
Police were called to a blaze at a property belonging to Starmer in north London earlier this month. Starmer does not live at the house in Kentish Town and while no one was injured, the entrance to the home was damaged.
Two further fires on separate days which targeted a nearby apartment and a car, which were also linked to the prime minister, are also part of the investigation which is being led by counterterrorism police.
Carpiuc was charged with arson with intent to endanger life over the fires, the same offences with which 21-year-old Ukrainian, Roman Lavrynovych, was charged last week.
Counter-terrorism police have led the investigation given the prime minister’s involvement. So far neither man has been charged under terrorism laws or the new National Security Act which aims to target hostile state activity.
“At this stage the alleged offending is unexplained,” Przybylska said of the charges against Carpiuc, who was arrested on Saturday at London’s Luton Airport.
Carpiuc’s lawyer Jay Nutkins said his client had lived in Britain for nine years and had just completed a two-year degree at a university in Canterbury. “He denies being at the scene of any of these fires,” Nutkins said.
Wearing a light blue hoodie, Carpiuc spoke in court to confirm his name and address while listening to the proceedings through a translator.
Police arrested a third man in connection with the fires on Monday. He remains in police custody.
Starmer, who has lived at his official 10 Downing Street residence in central London since becoming prime minister last July, has called the incidents “an attack on all of us, on our democracy and the values we stand for”.
