A group of six individuals from Britain working on behalf of Russia’s Wagner group have been handed jail terms for setting fire to a London-based storage unit that was holding humanitarian aid intended for Ukraine.
Court Rulings and Involvement
While delivering the sentences, the judge at the central criminal court stated that they had planned a “series of terrorist and sabotage acts” to benefit the Russian state.
Dylan Earl received a seventeen-year prison sentence with an extra six-year period on supervised release due to his “leading role”. Jake Reeves, a resident of Croydon, South London, was given twelve years in prison with one year on extended licence. The offences they admitted made them the first individuals to be found guilty under the 2023 National Security Act.
Jakeem Rose, also a Croydon resident, was jailed for eight years and 10 months. Nii Mensah, 23, from Thornton Heath, south London, was sentenced to nine years and Ugnius Asmena, 21, who was homeless, was handed seven years. The trio were each found guilty of aggravated arson and given a additional year on supervised release by the court.
Ashton Evans, a 20-year-old individual involved in drug trafficking from Newport in Gwent, was jailed for nine years plus a further year on supervised release after being convicted of failing to disclose information about acts of terrorism connected to another plot in Mayfair.
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 last year.
The proceedings revealed that Earl, 21 and the 24-year-old Reeves remained in their residences while organising the attack for the Wagner group, representing the Russian Federation.
The group targeted the warehouse because it was being used to supply emergency relief and StarLink satellite equipment to Ukraine.
When the same Ukrainian company was hit by an arson attack 10 days later in Madrid, investigators from the Metropolitan Police's anti-terror unit assumed control of the probe.
Evidence and Further Plans
When Earl was arrested, police analysis of his mobile phone uncovered 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 usernames ‘Privet Bot account’ and ‘Lucky Strike’.
Some of the messages showed that preliminary surveillance for additional operations, involving arson attacks at a dining establishment and wine store in Mayfair owned by the Russian dissident Evgeny Chichvarkin had already been carried out. The employment of explosive devices to damage buildings was also discussed.
Detectives discovered that Earl was also considering the possibility of kidnapping Chichvarkin and “exiling him back to Russia to confront imprisonment”.
The drug dealer from Elmesthorpe in Leicestershire had discussed another potential attack in the Czech nation.
In a residence inspection, law enforcement found a flag of Russia, more than £20,000 in cash and cocaine with a street value of about £34,000.
Driving Factors and Court Comments
The proceedings revealed he was a participant in multiple pro-Russian propaganda channels and was motivated by “simple and ugly greed”.
“This legal matter concerns the attempts by the Russian government to acquire harmful worldwide sway using social media to enlist saboteurs vast distances from Moscow.”
She determined the fire incident had a “link to terrorism” irrespective of if the perpetrators were aware of it. The Wagner group is proscribed by the UK government as a terrorist group.
