A group of six individuals from Britain working on behalf of the Wagner mercenary group linked to Russia have been sentenced to prison for setting fire to a London-based storage unit that was holding relief supplies destined for Ukraine.
Sentencing and Roles
While delivering the sentences, the presiding judge at the Old Bailey remarked that they had planned a “campaign of terrorism and sabotage” to benefit the Russian government.
Dylan Earl was given a 17-year prison sentence with an additional six years on extended licence due to his “leading role”. Another defendant, Jake Reeves, from Croydon in south London, was given 12 years in prison with one year on supervised release. Their admitted crimes resulted in them being the first individuals to be convicted under the 2023 National Security Act.
Jakeem Rose, aged 23, also from Croydon, was sentenced to a term of eight years and ten months. Nii Mensah, 23, a Thornton Heath, South London local, was sentenced to nine years imprisonment and Ugnius Asmena, 21, who was homeless, was handed seven years in prison. These three individuals were each convicted of serious fire-setting and received a additional year on supervised release by the court.
Ashton Evans, a 20-year-old drug dealer hailing from Newport, Gwent, was jailed for nine years with an extra year on extended licence after being convicted of withholding information about acts of terrorism connected to a separate scheme in Mayfair.
Details of the Attack
The deliberate fire on a warehouse in Leyton, east London put 60 firefighters at risk and caused £1m in damage in March of the previous year.
The court heard that the 21-year-old Earl and Reeves, 24 did not leave their bedrooms while organising the attack for the Wagner group, representing the Russian Federation.
The group selected the storage facility because it was being used to supply emergency relief and StarLink satellite equipment to Ukraine.
When the identical Ukrainian firm was hit by an intentional fire 10 days later in Madrid, investigators from the Metropolitan Police's anti-terror unit took over the investigation.
Evidence and Further Plans
When Earl was taken into custody, law enforcement examination of his mobile phone revealed he had recordings of the warehouse fire being started and was in contact with the Wagner organization on the Telegram messaging app, via an user profile with the handles ‘Privet Bot account’ and ‘Lucky Strike alias’.
Some of the messages showed that preliminary surveillance for further “missions”, involving fire-related incidents at a dining establishment and wine store in Mayfair district belonging to the Russian dissident Evgeny Chichvarkin had already taken place. The use of explosives to damage buildings was also discussed.
Detectives discovered that Earl was also considering 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 an additional planned incident in the Czech nation.
In a search of his home, law enforcement found a flag of Russia, more than £20,000 in cash and cocaine hydrochloride with a street value of approximately thirty-four thousand pounds.
Driving Factors and Court Comments
The court heard he was a participant in numerous channels promoting Russian propaganda and was driven by “plain and severe avarice”.
“This case is about the attempts by the Russian government to gain pernicious global influence using social media to enlist saboteurs far from the Russian capital.”
She determined the arson attack had a “link to terrorism” regardless of whether the perpetrators knew it. The Wagner group is proscribed by the British authorities as a terrorist organisation.
