Six Britons acting for the Wagner mercenary group linked to Russia have been sentenced to prison for setting fire to a London-based storage unit that was holding relief supplies destined for Ukraine.
Sentencing and Roles
Sentencing the men, the presiding judge at the central criminal court 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 jail term with an additional six years on supervised release due to his “primary involvement”. Jake Reeves, a resident of Croydon, South London, was given 12 years in jail with one year on extended licence. Their admitted crimes resulted in them being the first individuals to be found guilty under the 2023 National Security Act.
Jakeem Rose, aged 23, also from Croydon, was sentenced to eight years and 10 months. Nii Mensah, 23, from Thornton Heath, south London, was sentenced to nine years imprisonment and Ugnius Asmena, 21, who was without a fixed address, was given seven years. The trio were each found guilty of serious fire-setting and received a further year on extended licence by the court.
Ashton Evans, a 20-year-old individual involved in drug trafficking from Newport in Gwent, was sentenced to nine years imprisonment plus a further year on supervised release after being found guilty of failing to disclose information about terrorist acts relating to a separate scheme in Mayfair.
Details of the Attack
The arson attack on a warehouse in Leyton, east London endangered sixty fire service personnel and resulted in one million pounds worth of destruction in March last year.
The court heard that Earl, 21 and Reeves, 24 remained in their residences while coordinating the incident for the Wagner group, acting on behalf of the Russian government.
The individuals involved selected the warehouse because it was being utilized for providing emergency relief and satellite communication gear to Ukraine.
When the identical Ukrainian firm was subjected to an arson attack ten days afterward in the Spanish capital, detectives from the Met’s counter-terrorism command assumed control of the investigation.
Evidence and Further Plans
When Earl was taken into custody, police analysis of his mobile phone revealed he had recordings of the storage facility blaze being started and was in communication with the Wagner group on the Telegram messaging app, via an account with the usernames ‘Privet Bot account’ and ‘Lucky Strike’.
Some of the communications showed that preliminary surveillance for further “missions”, involving arson attacks at a restaurant and wine shop in Mayfair district owned by the Russian opposition figure Evgeny Chichvarkin had already been carried out. The employment of explosive devices to damage buildings was also discussed.
Investigators discovered that Earl was also considering the potential abduction of the dissident Chichvarkin and “exiling 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 search of his home, law enforcement located a flag of Russia, more than £20,000 in cash and cocaine hydrochloride with a street value of approximately thirty-four thousand pounds.
Motivations and Judicial Remarks
The court heard he was a member of numerous channels promoting Russian propaganda and was driven by “plain and severe avarice”.
“This case is about the efforts of the Russian Federation to acquire harmful worldwide sway using online platforms to recruit disruptors far from the Russian capital.”
She determined the arson attack had a “link to terrorism” irrespective of if the individuals responsible were aware of it. The Wagner organization is proscribed by the UK government as a terrorist group.
