Six Britons acting for Russia’s Wagner group have been handed jail terms for setting fire to a London-based warehouse that was holding relief supplies intended for Ukraine.
Sentencing and Roles
Sentencing the men, the presiding judge at the Old Bailey remarked that they had planned a “series of terrorist and sabotage acts” to benefit the Russian government.
Dylan Earl received a 17-year prison sentence with an additional six years on extended licence due to his “primary involvement”. Jake Reeves, from Croydon in south London, was sentenced to twelve years in jail with an additional year on extended licence. Their admitted crimes resulted in them being the initial persons to be found guilty under the National Security Act 2023.
Jakeem Rose, also a Croydon resident, was jailed for a term of eight years and ten months. Nii Mensah, a Thornton Heath, South London local, was given nine years imprisonment and Ugnius Asmena, 21, who was homeless, was handed seven years. The trio were each convicted of serious fire-setting and given a further year on extended licence by the judge.
Ashton Evans, a 20-year-old drug dealer from Newport in Gwent, was jailed for nine years plus a further year on supervised release after being found guilty of withholding details regarding terrorist acts relating to a separate scheme 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 resulted in £1m in damage in March of the previous year.
The proceedings revealed that Earl, 21 and the 24-year-old Reeves did not leave their bedrooms while organising the attack for the Wagner group, representing the Russian government.
The group selected the storage facility because it was being utilized for providing emergency relief and StarLink satellite equipment to Ukraine.
When the same Ukrainian company was hit by an intentional fire 10 days later in Madrid, detectives from the Met’s counter-terrorism command took over the probe.
Evidence and Further Plans
When Earl was arrested, police analysis of his mobile phone revealed he had videos of the warehouse fire being started and was in communication with the Wagner group on Telegram, via an account with the handles ‘Privet Bot’ and ‘Lucky Strike’.
Some of the communications indicated that preliminary surveillance for further “missions”, involving fire-related incidents at a restaurant and wine store in Mayfair belonging to the Russian dissident Evgeny Chichvarkin had already taken place. The use of explosives to harm structures was also deliberated.
Investigators found that Earl was also raising the possibility of kidnapping Chichvarkin and “sending him back to Russia to face prison”.
The individual involved in narcotics from Elmesthorpe in Leicestershire had discussed another potential attack in the Czech Republic.
In a residence inspection, police located a Russian flag, more than £20,000 in cash and cocaine hydrochloride with a market value of approximately thirty-four thousand pounds.
Motivations and Judicial Remarks
The proceedings revealed he was a member of numerous pro-Russian propaganda channels and was motivated by “simple and ugly greed”.
“This case is about the attempts by the Russian government to acquire harmful worldwide sway using social media to recruit disruptors vast distances from Moscow.”
She determined the arson attack had a “terrorist connection” regardless of whether the perpetrators knew it. The Wagner group is banned by the UK government as a terrorist group.
