Six Britons acting for Russia’s Wagner group have been sentenced to prison for setting fire to a London-based warehouse that was storing humanitarian aid intended for Ukraine.
Sentencing and Roles
While delivering the sentences, the judge at the Old Bailey stated that they had planned a “campaign of terrorism and sabotage” in the interests of the Russian government.
Dylan Earl received a seventeen-year prison sentence with an additional six years on supervised release due to his “primary involvement”. Jake Reeves, a resident of Croydon, South London, was sentenced to twelve years in jail with an additional year on extended licence. The offences they admitted resulted in them being the first individuals to be convicted under the 2023 National Security Act.
Jakeem Rose, aged 23, also a Croydon resident, was jailed for a term of eight years and ten months. Nii Mensah, a Thornton Heath, South London local, was sentenced to nine years and Ugnius Asmena, 21, who was without a fixed address, was handed seven years in prison. These three individuals were each found guilty of aggravated arson and received a further year on extended licence by the judge.
Ashton Evans individual involved in drug trafficking hailing from Newport, Gwent, was jailed for nine years imprisonment plus a further year on extended licence after being found guilty of failing to disclose details regarding terrorist acts relating to another plot 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 caused £1m in damage in March last year.
The court heard that Earl, 21 and the 24-year-old Reeves remained in their residences while organising the attack for the Wagner mercenary organization, acting on behalf of the Russian government.
The group targeted the warehouse because it was being utilized for providing humanitarian aid and satellite communication gear to Ukraine.
When the same Ukrainian company was subjected to an arson attack ten days afterward in Madrid, detectives from the Met’s counter-terrorism command took over the probe.
Evidence and Further Plans
When Earl was taken into custody, police analysis of his mobile phone revealed he had recordings 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 showed that reconnaissance for further “missions”, involving fire-related incidents at a dining establishment and wine store in Mayfair district owned by 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 considering the possibility of kidnapping Chichvarkin and “sending him back to Russia to confront imprisonment”.
The drug dealer from Elmesthorpe, Leicestershire had discussed another potential attack in the Czech Republic.
In a residence inspection, law enforcement 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 proceedings revealed he was a participant in numerous channels promoting Russian propaganda and was motivated by “simple and ugly greed”.
“This case is about the efforts of the Russian Federation to gain pernicious global influence using online platforms to recruit disruptors far from the Russian capital.”
She found the arson attack had a “link to terrorism” regardless of whether the perpetrators knew it. The Wagner organization is banned by the UK government as a terrorist organisation.
