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 warehouse that was holding relief supplies intended for Ukraine.
Sentencing and Roles
Sentencing the men, the judge at the central criminal court remarked that they had planned a “series of terrorist and sabotage acts” in the interests of the Russian state.
Dylan Earl received a seventeen-year prison sentence with an additional six years on supervised release due to his “leading role”. Another defendant, Jake Reeves, from Croydon in south London, was given 12 years in jail with one year on supervised release. Their admitted crimes made them the initial persons to be convicted under the National Security Act 2023.
Jakeem Rose, aged 23, also from Croydon, was jailed for eight years and 10 months. Nii Mensah, from Thornton Heath, south London, was sentenced to nine years imprisonment and Ugnius Asmena, who was homeless, was given seven years. The trio were each convicted of serious fire-setting and given a additional year on extended licence by the court.
Ashton Evans, a 20-year-old individual involved in drug trafficking hailing from Newport, Gwent, was jailed for nine years plus a further year on extended licence after being found guilty of failing to disclose details regarding 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 resulted in £1m in damage in March last year.
The court heard that the 21-year-old Earl and the 24-year-old Reeves remained in their residences while organising the attack for the Wagner mercenary organization, representing the Russian Federation.
The individuals involved targeted the storage facility because it was being utilized for providing emergency relief and StarLink satellite equipment 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 arrested, law enforcement examination of his cellphone revealed he had videos of the storage facility blaze being initiated and was in communication with the Wagner group on Telegram, via an user profile with the handles ‘Privet Bot’ and ‘Lucky Strike’.
Some of the communications showed that reconnaissance for further “missions”, involving fire-related incidents at a restaurant and wine store in Mayfair district owned by the Russian opposition figure Evgeny Chichvarkin had already been carried out. The employment of explosive devices to harm structures was also discussed.
Detectives found that the defendant Earl was also raising the possibility of kidnapping Chichvarkin and “exiling him back to Russia to confront imprisonment”.
The drug dealer from Elmesthorpe, Leicestershire had discussed an additional planned incident in the Czech Republic.
In a search of his home, law enforcement located a Russian flag, more than £20,000 in cash and cocaine hydrochloride with a market 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 “simple and ugly greed”.
“This case is about the attempts by the Russian government to gain pernicious global influence using social media to recruit disruptors vast distances from Moscow.”
She determined the arson attack had a “terrorist connection” irrespective of if the perpetrators were aware of it. The Wagner organization is banned by the British authorities as a terrorist organisation.
