Six Britons working on behalf of Russia’s Wagner group have been sentenced to prison for igniting a London-based warehouse that was storing humanitarian aid intended for Ukraine.
Sentencing and Roles
Sentencing the men, the presiding judge at the Old Bailey remarked that they had orchestrated a “campaign of terrorism and sabotage” to benefit the Russian state.
Dylan Earl received a seventeen-year jail term with an additional six years on supervised release due to his “leading role”. Another defendant, Jake Reeves, from Croydon in south London, was given twelve years in prison with an additional year on supervised release. Their admitted crimes resulted in them being the initial persons to be convicted under the National Security Act 2023.
Jakeem Rose, also a Croydon resident, was sentenced to a term of eight years and ten months. Nii Mensah, 23, from Thornton Heath, south London, was sentenced to nine years imprisonment and Ugnius Asmena, 21, who was homeless, was handed seven years in prison. The trio were each found guilty of serious fire-setting and received a additional year on extended licence by the judge.
Ashton Evans drug dealer from Newport in Gwent, was jailed for nine years plus a further year on extended licence after being convicted of failing to disclose details regarding acts of terrorism connected to another plot in the Mayfair area.
Details of the Attack
The arson attack on a Leyton-based storage facility in East London put 60 firefighters at risk and caused £1m in damage in March of the previous year.
The court heard that Earl, 21 and Reeves, 24 did not leave their bedrooms while organising the attack for the Wagner group, acting on behalf of the Russian government.
The individuals involved selected the storage facility because it was being used to supply emergency relief and satellite communication gear to Ukraine.
When the identical Ukrainian firm was subjected to an intentional fire 10 days later in the Spanish capital, detectives from the Met’s counter-terrorism command assumed control of the probe.
Proof and Additional Schemes
When Earl was taken into custody, police analysis of his mobile phone revealed he had videos of the storage facility blaze being started and was in communication with the Wagner group on Telegram, via an account with the handles ‘Privet Bot account’ and ‘Lucky Strike’.
Some of the messages showed that preliminary surveillance for further “missions”, involving fire-related incidents at a restaurant and wine shop in Mayfair belonging to the Russian opposition figure Evgeny Chichvarkin had already been carried out. The use of explosives to damage buildings was also discussed.
Investigators found that Earl was also raising the potential abduction of the dissident Chichvarkin and “sending him back to Russia to face prison”.
The drug dealer from Elmesthorpe, Leicestershire had discussed another potential attack in the Czech Republic.
In a residence inspection, law enforcement found a Russian flag, more than £20,000 in cash and cocaine with a street value of approximately thirty-four thousand pounds.
Motivations and Judicial Remarks
The court heard he was a member of multiple channels promoting Russian propaganda and was motivated by “simple and ugly greed”.
“This case is about the efforts of the Russian Federation to gain pernicious global influence using online platforms to recruit disruptors vast distances from Moscow.”
She found the arson attack had a “terrorist connection” regardless of whether the perpetrators knew it. The Wagner group is banned by the British authorities as a terrorist organisation.
