Six Britons acting for Russia’s Wagner group have been handed jail terms for igniting a London-based warehouse that was holding relief supplies destined for Ukraine.
Court Rulings and Involvement
Sentencing the men, the presiding judge at the Old Bailey stated that they had planned a “campaign of terrorism and sabotage” to benefit the Russian state.
Dylan Earl was given a 17-year jail term with an additional six years on extended licence due to his “leading role”. Another defendant, Jake Reeves, a resident of Croydon, South London, was given twelve years in jail with an additional year on supervised release. The offences they admitted made them the first individuals 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, from Thornton Heath, south London, was sentenced to nine years imprisonment and Ugnius Asmena, 21, who was homeless, was given seven years in prison. The trio were each convicted of serious fire-setting and received a further year on extended licence by the court.
Ashton Evans drug dealer from Newport in Gwent, was jailed for nine years imprisonment with an extra year on supervised release after being convicted of failing to disclose information about acts of terrorism 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 one million pounds worth of destruction in March last year.
The court heard that Earl, 21 and the 24-year-old Reeves did not leave their bedrooms while coordinating the incident for the Wagner mercenary organization, acting on behalf of the Russian Federation.
The individuals involved targeted the storage facility because it was being utilized for providing humanitarian aid and StarLink satellite equipment to Ukraine.
When the same Ukrainian company was hit by an arson attack ten days afterward in Madrid, detectives from the Met’s counter-terrorism command took over the probe.
Proof and Additional Schemes
When Earl was taken into custody, law enforcement examination of his mobile phone revealed he had recordings of the storage facility blaze being started and was in contact with the Wagner organization on Telegram, via an user profile with the handles ‘Privet Bot’ and ‘Lucky Strike’.
Some of the messages showed that preliminary surveillance for additional operations, involving arson attacks at a restaurant and wine store in Mayfair owned by the Russian dissident Evgeny Chichvarkin had already taken place. The use of explosives to damage buildings was also deliberated.
Investigators found that Earl was also considering the possibility of kidnapping Chichvarkin and “sending him back to Russia to face prison”.
The drug dealer from Elmesthorpe, Leicestershire had discussed an additional planned incident in the Czech nation.
In a residence inspection, police found a flag of Russia, over twenty thousand pounds in currency and cocaine hydrochloride with a street value of about £34,000.
Motivations and Judicial Remarks
The court heard he was a participant in multiple pro-Russian propaganda channels and was motivated by “plain and severe avarice”.
“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 found the fire incident had a “link to terrorism” regardless of whether the perpetrators knew it. The Wagner organization is banned by the British authorities as a terrorist organisation.
