A Welsh stripper who set a car ablaze in Moscow "to cheer himself up" is reportedly being investigated for suspected links to British intelligence. Alistair Penney, a 38-year-old dancer from Cardiff, was detained on Wednesday as he ran from a burning Mercedes Benz in a suburb that has seen a spate of arson attacks on parked vehicles.
Police have been investigating at least 32 cases of arson against cars in the Yuzhnoye Butovo district of Moscow over the past month. A video released by Russian police showed Mr Penney apparently confessing to the act. Wearing a broad grin throughout his interrogation, he struggled to explain in broken Russian why he had set fire to the car. "I'm called Alistair," he tells questioning officers. "I speak little, bad but I learn." He is then asked why he set fire to the car.
"I walk on foot to the Metro and I saw the car – bad weather," he replies, mimicking the sound of thunder and rain. "I think weather – car." Police said that Mr Penney had initially denied involvement until two lighters and a can of furniture polish were found in his pocket.
Officers claimed the suspect had given contradictory reasons for his act. According to a transcript of a later interview, this time conducted with translators, Mr Penney allegedly told police: "I was in a bad mood. The sky was grey and it started to rain. Suddenly I saw a Mercedes. It was so old so to cheer myself up I decided to set the tyre on fire.
"I was sure it would not catch fire as it was raining, but it did. I was surprised." Mr Penney is alleged to have changed his story later on, saying that he had decided to test the flammability of his furniture spray on the tyre.
Russian newspapers quoted police sources as saying that they were suspicious of the way Mr Penney had contradicted himself and suggested that there were other indications that pointed to the fact that he could be a spy.
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