A group of six individuals from Britain working on behalf of Russia’s Wagner group have been handed jail terms for igniting a London-based warehouse that was storing relief supplies intended for Ukraine.
Court Rulings and Involvement
While delivering the sentences, the judge at the Old Bailey stated that they had planned a “campaign of terrorism and sabotage” in the interests of the Russian government.
Dylan Earl received a seventeen-year jail term with an additional six years on supervised release due to his “primary involvement”. Another defendant, Jake Reeves, from Croydon in south London, was sentenced to 12 years in prison with an additional year on supervised release. Their admitted crimes resulted in them being the initial persons to be found guilty under the National Security Act 2023.
Jakeem Rose, aged 23, also from Croydon, was sentenced to a term of eight years and ten months. Nii Mensah, from Thornton Heath, south London, was given nine years and Ugnius Asmena, 21, who was homeless, was given seven years. These three individuals were each convicted of serious fire-setting and received a further year on supervised release by the judge.
Ashton Evans drug dealer from Newport in Gwent, was sentenced to nine years imprisonment with an extra year on supervised release after being found guilty of withholding details regarding terrorist acts relating to a separate scheme in Mayfair.
Details of the Attack
The deliberate fire on a warehouse in Leyton, east London endangered sixty fire service personnel and caused £1m in damage in March last year.
The court heard that the 21-year-old Earl and the 24-year-old Reeves remained in their residences while organising the attack for the Wagner mercenary organization, acting on behalf of the Russian government.
The individuals involved selected the warehouse because it was being used to supply humanitarian aid and StarLink satellite equipment to Ukraine.
When the same Ukrainian company was hit by an intentional fire 10 days later in Madrid, investigators from the Metropolitan Police's anti-terror unit assumed control of the investigation.
Evidence and Further Plans
When Earl was arrested, police analysis of his mobile phone uncovered he had recordings of the warehouse fire being initiated and was in communication with the Wagner group on Telegram, via an user profile with the handles ‘Privet Bot’ and ‘Lucky Strike alias’.
Some of the communications showed that reconnaissance for further “missions”, involving arson attacks at a dining establishment and wine store in Mayfair belonging to the Russian opposition figure Evgeny Chichvarkin had already been carried out. The use of explosives to harm structures was also deliberated.
Detectives found that Earl was also considering the possibility of kidnapping the dissident Chichvarkin and “exiling him back to Russia to face prison”.
The individual involved in narcotics from Elmesthorpe, Leicestershire had discussed another potential attack in the Czech nation.
In a search of his home, law enforcement found a Russian flag, more than £20,000 in cash and cocaine hydrochloride with a street value of approximately thirty-four thousand pounds.
Driving Factors and Court Comments
The court heard he was a member of numerous pro-Russian propaganda channels and was driven by “simple and ugly greed”.
“This case is about the efforts of the Russian Federation to acquire harmful worldwide sway using social media to enlist saboteurs far from the Russian capital.”
She determined the fire incident had a “terrorist connection” irrespective of if the individuals responsible knew it. The Wagner group is banned by the UK government as a terrorist group.
