A group of six individuals from Britain acting for Russia’s Wagner group have been sentenced to prison for setting fire to a located in London warehouse that was holding relief supplies intended for Ukraine.
Sentencing and Roles
Sentencing the men, the judge at the Old Bailey stated that they had orchestrated a “series of terrorist and sabotage acts” to benefit the Russian state.
Dylan Earl was given 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 one year on extended licence. Their admitted crimes resulted in them being the first individuals to be found guilty under the National Security Act 2023.
Jakeem Rose, 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 in prison. These three individuals were each found guilty of serious fire-setting and received a additional year on extended licence by the court.
Ashton Evans, a 20-year-old drug dealer hailing from Newport, Gwent, was jailed for nine years plus a further year on extended licence after being found guilty of failing to disclose information about terrorist acts relating to another plot in Mayfair.
Details of the Attack
The deliberate fire on a Leyton-based storage facility in 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 Reeves, 24 remained in their residences while organising the attack for the Wagner mercenary organization, acting on behalf of the Russian Federation.
The group targeted the storage facility because it was being used to supply emergency relief and satellite communication gear to Ukraine.
When the same Ukrainian company was subjected to an arson attack 10 days later in Madrid, detectives from the Met’s counter-terrorism command assumed control of the probe.
Proof and Additional Schemes
When Earl was arrested, law enforcement examination of his mobile phone revealed he had recordings of the storage facility blaze being initiated and was in communication with the Wagner organization on Telegram, via an account with the handles ‘Privet Bot’ and ‘Lucky Strike’.
Some of the messages showed that reconnaissance for additional operations, involving arson attacks at a dining establishment and wine store in Mayfair belonging to the Russian dissident 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 possibility of kidnapping the dissident Chichvarkin and “sending him back to Russia to face prison”.
The drug dealer from Elmesthorpe in Leicestershire had discussed an additional planned incident in the Czech Republic.
In a search of his home, police found 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 numerous channels promoting Russian propaganda and was driven by “plain and severe avarice”.
“This legal matter concerns 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 fire incident had a “link to terrorism” regardless of whether the perpetrators were aware of it. The Wagner organization is proscribed by the British authorities as a terrorist group.
