A man who set fire to property linked to Sir Keir Starmer has told a court he did not know of the Prime Minister and “just knew Boris Johnson”.

Roman Lavrynovych, 22, is accused, along with Stanislav Carpiuc and Petro Pochynok, of arson attacks on a vehicle and two houses in north London linked to Sir Keir.

A Toyota Rav4 car which once belonged to Sir Keir was burnt out in Kentish Town in the early hours of May 8 last year.

The blaze was only treated as suspicious after two more attacks on property connected to the Prime Minister days later.

Lavrynovych, a Ukrainian national, was asked if he knew the name Sir Keir Starmer while giving evidence at the Old Bailey on Monday.

He said through a translator: “No I didn’t know, I was not aware of (him) and I was not interested – I just knew Boris Johnson.”

A taskmaster known as El Money instructed Lavrynovych to carry out the attacks and promised him cryptocurrency payment in return, the court has heard.

However the defendant told jurors that he was not paid…