A group of six individuals from Britain acting for Russia’s Wagner group have been handed jail terms for setting fire to a London-based storage unit that was holding humanitarian aid intended 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 state.
Dylan Earl received a 17-year prison sentence with an extra six-year period on extended licence due to his “primary involvement”. Another defendant, Jake Reeves, from Croydon in south London, was sentenced to twelve years in jail with one year on extended licence. The offences they admitted made them the first individuals to be convicted under the National Security Act 2023.
Jakeem Rose, aged 23, also a Croydon resident, was jailed for a term of eight years and ten months. Nii Mensah, from Thornton Heath, south London, was given nine years imprisonment and Ugnius Asmena, who was homeless, was given seven years in prison. These three individuals were each convicted of serious fire-setting and received a further year on supervised release by the judge.
Ashton Evans drug dealer hailing from Newport, Gwent, was sentenced to nine years imprisonment plus a further year on supervised release after being found guilty of withholding details regarding acts of terrorism relating to another plot in Mayfair.
Incident Specifics
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 proceedings revealed that the 21-year-old Earl and the 24-year-old Reeves did not leave their bedrooms while organising the attack for the Wagner group, acting on behalf of the Russian Federation.
The group selected the warehouse because it was being used to supply humanitarian aid and satellite communication gear to Ukraine.
When the identical Ukrainian firm was subjected to an intentional fire 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 mobile phone uncovered he had videos of the warehouse fire being initiated 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 indicated that preliminary surveillance for further “missions”, involving arson attacks at a dining establishment and wine shop 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.
Investigators discovered that the defendant Earl was also raising the potential abduction of Chichvarkin and “exiling him back to Russia to face prison”.
The individual involved in narcotics from Elmesthorpe, Leicestershire had discussed an additional planned incident in the Czech Republic.
In a residence inspection, law enforcement found a Russian flag, more than £20,000 in cash and cocaine hydrochloride with a market 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 legal matter concerns the attempts by the Russian government to gain pernicious global influence using social media to enlist saboteurs vast distances from Moscow.”
She found the arson attack had a “link to terrorism” irrespective of if the perpetrators were aware of it. The Wagner group is banned by the British authorities as a terrorist organisation.
