Second Man Charged Over Fires at Properties Linked to Prime Minister Keir Starmer

Europe|2nd Man Charged Over Fires at Homes Linked to U.K. Prime Minister

A second man has been charged by police over the fires at two properties and a car linked to Britain’s prime minister, Keir Starmer.

Stanislav Carpiuc, 26, a Romanian national, is charged with conspiracy to commit arson with intent to endanger life, the Metropolitan Police said in a statement on Tuesday.

The charges relate to three separate fires that took place earlier this month. One erupted in the early hours of May 12, outside the doorway of a house owned by Mr. Starmer in Kentish Town, north London, where he and his family lived until last year. The family moved to the official prime ministerial residence, in Downing Street, after Mr. Starmer’s general election victory.

Another blaze broke out the day before at an another residential building in the Islington area, while the third episode involved a car fire in Kentish Town on May 8.

The BBC reported that Mr. Starmer had lived in the Islington building during the 1990s and that he had also once owned the car that was targeted; it was later sold to a neighbor. Nobody was hurt in the fires, but the doorway of the Kentish Town house, which is being rented out, was damaged.

Counterterrorism police led the investigation because of the connections to a high-profile public figure.

Mr. Carpiuc is accused of conspiring together with Roman Lavrynovych “and others unknown,” the statement said. Mr. Lavrynovych, a 21-year-old Ukrainian man who had been living in Sydenham, southeast London, appeared in court last week.

During that hearing, Sarah Przybylska, the prosecuting lawyer, told Westminster Magistrates’ Court that “the car and both properties were linked to the prime minister.” She added that, at this stage, “the alleged offending is unexplained.”

Mr. Carpiuc was arrested on Saturday at London Luton Airport by counter terrorism officers. He will attend a hearing in Westminster magistrates court on Tuesday.