Six Britons working on behalf of Russia’s Wagner group have been handed jail terms for setting fire to a London-based storage unit that was holding relief supplies destined for Ukraine.
Sentencing and Roles
While delivering the sentences, the presiding judge at the Old Bailey remarked that they had planned a “series of terrorist and sabotage acts” in the interests of the Russian state.
Dylan Earl was given a 17-year prison sentence with an extra six-year period on supervised release due to his “primary involvement”. Another defendant, Jake Reeves, from Croydon in south London, was given twelve years in prison with an additional year on supervised release. The offences they admitted resulted in them being the initial persons to be convicted under the National Security Act 2023.
Jakeem Rose, also from Croydon, was sentenced to eight years and 10 months. Nii Mensah, 23, a Thornton Heath, South London local, was given nine years and Ugnius Asmena, 21, who was without a fixed address, was handed seven years. The trio were each convicted of aggravated arson and given a further year on extended licence by the judge.
Ashton Evans, a 20-year-old drug dealer hailing from Newport, Gwent, was sentenced to nine years imprisonment with an extra year on supervised release after being found guilty of failing to disclose information about acts of terrorism relating to a separate scheme in the Mayfair area.
Details of the Attack
The deliberate fire on a warehouse in Leyton, east London put 60 firefighters at risk and resulted in one million pounds worth of destruction in March of the previous year.
The proceedings revealed that Earl, 21 and the 24-year-old Reeves remained in their residences while coordinating the incident for the Wagner group, acting on behalf of the Russian government.
The individuals involved targeted the warehouse because it was being used to supply humanitarian aid and satellite communication gear to Ukraine.
When the same Ukrainian company was hit by an arson attack 10 days later in the Spanish capital, detectives from the Met’s counter-terrorism command assumed control of the investigation.
Evidence and Further Plans
When Earl was arrested, law enforcement examination of his cellphone uncovered he had videos of the warehouse fire being initiated and was in communication with the Wagner organization on the Telegram messaging app, via an account with the usernames ‘Privet Bot’ and ‘Lucky Strike’.
Some of the messages showed that reconnaissance for further “missions”, involving arson attacks at a restaurant and wine store in Mayfair owned by the Russian opposition figure Evgeny Chichvarkin had already been carried out. The use of explosives to damage buildings was also deliberated.
Detectives found that Earl was also considering the potential abduction of Chichvarkin and “sending him back to Russia to confront imprisonment”.
The drug dealer from Elmesthorpe in Leicestershire had talked about an additional planned incident in the Czech Republic.
In a residence inspection, law enforcement located a Russian flag, over twenty thousand pounds in currency and cocaine hydrochloride with a market value of approximately thirty-four thousand pounds.
Driving Factors and Court Comments
The proceedings revealed he was a member of multiple channels promoting Russian propaganda and was motivated by “simple and ugly greed”.
“This legal matter concerns the attempts by the Russian government to gain pernicious global influence using online platforms to enlist saboteurs far from the Russian capital.”
She determined the arson attack had a “terrorist connection” irrespective of if the individuals responsible knew it. The Wagner group is proscribed by the UK government as a terrorist organisation.
