Six Britons acting for the Wagner mercenary group linked to Russia have been sentenced to prison for setting fire to a located in London storage unit that was storing relief supplies intended for Ukraine.
Sentencing and Roles
Sentencing the men, the presiding judge at the Old Bailey stated that they had planned a “series of terrorist and sabotage acts” to benefit the Russian state.
The individual named Dylan Earl received a seventeen-year jail term with an extra six-year period on extended licence due to his “leading role”. Jake Reeves, a resident of Croydon, South London, was given twelve years in jail with one year on extended licence. The offences they admitted resulted in them being the initial persons to be found guilty under the 2023 National Security Act.
Jakeem Rose, also from Croydon, was jailed for eight years and 10 months. Nii Mensah, 23, a Thornton Heath, South London local, 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 aggravated arson and given a further year on supervised release by the judge.
Ashton Evans drug dealer from Newport in Gwent, was sentenced to nine years imprisonment plus a further year on supervised release after being found guilty of withholding details regarding terrorist acts relating to another plot in the Mayfair area.
Incident Specifics
The arson attack on a Leyton-based storage facility in East London endangered sixty fire service personnel and resulted in £1m in damage in March of the previous 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 group, acting on behalf of the Russian Federation.
The individuals involved targeted the storage facility because it was being used to supply emergency relief and StarLink satellite equipment to Ukraine.
When the same Ukrainian company was subjected to an arson attack 10 days later in the Spanish capital, detectives from the Met’s counter-terrorism command assumed control of the investigation.
Evidence and Further Plans
When Earl was arrested, police analysis of his mobile phone uncovered he had recordings of the warehouse fire being started and was in contact with the Wagner group on the Telegram messaging app, via an user profile with the usernames ‘Privet Bot’ and ‘Lucky Strike’.
Some of the messages showed that reconnaissance for further “missions”, involving fire-related incidents at a restaurant and wine store in Mayfair belonging to the Russian opposition figure Evgeny Chichvarkin had already taken place. The use of explosives to damage buildings was also discussed.
Detectives discovered that Earl was also raising the possibility of kidnapping the dissident Chichvarkin and “exiling him back to Russia to face prison”.
The drug dealer from Elmesthorpe, Leicestershire had talked about an additional planned incident in the Czech Republic.
In a residence inspection, police found a Russian flag, more than £20,000 in cash and cocaine hydrochloride with a street value of about £34,000.
Driving Factors and Court Comments
The court heard he was a member of multiple channels promoting Russian propaganda and was motivated by “plain and severe avarice”.
“This case is about the attempts by the Russian government to gain pernicious global influence using online platforms to recruit disruptors vast distances from Moscow.”
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 group.
