Six Britons 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 intended for Ukraine.
Court Rulings and Involvement
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.
The individual named Dylan Earl was given a seventeen-year prison sentence with an extra six-year period on extended licence due to his “primary involvement”. Jake Reeves, a resident of Croydon, South London, was given 12 years in jail with an additional 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 a Croydon resident, was jailed for eight years and 10 months. Nii Mensah, 23, from Thornton Heath, south London, was sentenced to nine years imprisonment and Ugnius Asmena, 21, who was without a fixed address, was handed seven years. The trio were each convicted of serious fire-setting and received a further year on extended licence by the judge.
Ashton Evans individual involved in drug trafficking from Newport in Gwent, was jailed for nine years imprisonment plus a further year on extended licence after being found guilty of failing to disclose information about terrorist acts relating to a separate scheme in Mayfair.
Details of the Attack
The deliberate fire on a Leyton-based storage facility in East London endangered sixty fire service personnel and resulted in £1m in damage in March last year.
The proceedings revealed that Earl, 21 and Reeves, 24 remained in their residences while organising the attack for the Wagner group, acting on behalf of the Russian government.
The individuals involved 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 arson attack 10 days later in Madrid, detectives from the Met’s counter-terrorism command took over the investigation.
Evidence and Further Plans
When Earl was arrested, law enforcement examination of his mobile phone revealed he had videos of the storage facility blaze being started and was in contact with the Wagner group on the Telegram messaging app, via an account with the usernames ‘Privet Bot’ and ‘Lucky Strike alias’.
Some of the communications indicated that reconnaissance for further “missions”, involving fire-related incidents at a restaurant and wine shop in Mayfair district owned by 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 potential abduction of the dissident Chichvarkin and “exiling 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 search of his home, police found a flag of Russia, more than £20,000 in cash and cocaine hydrochloride with a street value of about £34,000.
Motivations and Judicial Remarks
The court heard he was a member of numerous pro-Russian propaganda channels and was motivated by “plain and severe avarice”.
“This legal matter concerns the efforts of the Russian Federation to acquire harmful worldwide sway using online platforms to recruit disruptors vast distances from Moscow.”
She determined the arson attack had a “link to terrorism” regardless of whether the perpetrators knew it. The Wagner group is proscribed by the UK government as a terrorist organisation.
