Third man charged as part of investigation into north London fires

A third man has been charged as part of an investigation into a series of fires in north London.

Petro Pochynok 34 (25.07.90) of north London, a Ukrainian national [C] has been charged with conspiracy to commit arson with intent to endanger life, namely:

• conspiring together with Roman Lavrynovych and Stanislav Carpiuc and others unknown to damage by fire property belonging to another,
• intending to damage the property,
• intending to endanger the life or another or being reckless as to whether the life of another would thereby be endangered.

Pochynok is due to appear at Westminster Magistrates’ Court on Wednesday, 21 May at 10:00hrs.

The charge, which was authorised by the Crown Prosecution Service, relates to a period from Thursday, 17 April to Tuesday, 13 May this year, in which three incidents took place - a vehicle fire in NW5 on Thursday, 8 May, a fire at the entrance of a property in N7 on Sunday, 11 May and a fire at a residential address in NW5 in the early hours of Monday, 12 May.

All have connections with a high-profile public figure, and therefore officers from the Met’s Counter Terrorism Command led the investigation into the fires.

Pochynok was arrested on Monday, 19 May, in the Chelsea area, SW3, on suspicion of conspiracy to commit arson with intent to endanger life.

As part of the same investigation, Roman Lavrynovych 21 (06.02.04), of Sydenham, a Ukrainian national [A] was charged with three counts of arson with intent to endanger life.

He appeared at Westminster Magistrates’ Court on 16 May and was remanded in custody to appear at the Old Bailey on 6 June.

Stanislav Carpiuc, 26 (15.07.98) of Romford, a Romanian national, [B] has also been charged with conspiracy to commit arson with intent to endanger life.

He appeared at Westminster Magistrates’ Court on Tuesday, 20 May and was remanded in custody to appear at the Old Bailey on 6 June.

Anyone with information that could assist the investigation should call police on 101 quoting CAD 441/12 May.