Six Britons acting for Russia’s Wagner group have been handed jail terms for setting fire to a London-based storage unit that was storing humanitarian aid intended for Ukraine.
Sentencing and Roles
While delivering the sentences, the judge at the central criminal court remarked that they had planned a “campaign of terrorism and sabotage” to benefit the Russian state.
Dylan Earl was given a seventeen-year prison sentence with an additional six years on supervised release due to his “leading role”. Jake Reeves, from Croydon in south London, was sentenced to twelve years in jail with an additional year on supervised release. The offences they admitted resulted in them being the initial persons to be found guilty under the 2023 National Security Act.
Jakeem Rose, aged 23, also from Croydon, was sentenced to 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 given seven years in prison. These three individuals were each found guilty of aggravated arson and received a further year on supervised release by the court.
Ashton Evans, a 20-year-old drug dealer from Newport in Gwent, was jailed for nine years plus a further year on supervised release after being convicted of withholding information about acts of terrorism connected to a separate scheme 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 proceedings revealed that the 21-year-old Earl and the 24-year-old Reeves remained in their residences while coordinating the incident for the Wagner mercenary organization, representing the Russian government.
The individuals involved targeted the warehouse because it was being used to supply humanitarian aid and StarLink satellite equipment to Ukraine.
When the same Ukrainian company was subjected to an intentional fire 10 days later in the Spanish capital, detectives from the Met’s counter-terrorism command took over the probe.
Evidence and Further Plans
When Earl was taken into custody, law enforcement examination of his mobile phone revealed he had videos of the warehouse fire being initiated and was in communication with the Wagner organization on the Telegram messaging app, via an account with the handles ‘Privet Bot’ and ‘Lucky Strike’.
Some of the messages showed that reconnaissance for additional operations, involving arson attacks at a dining establishment and wine store in Mayfair district belonging to the Russian opposition figure Evgeny Chichvarkin had already taken place. The use of explosives to damage buildings was also discussed.
Detectives found 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 in Leicestershire had discussed an additional planned incident in the Czech Republic.
In a search of his home, law enforcement located a flag of Russia, over twenty thousand pounds in currency and cocaine with a market value of approximately thirty-four thousand pounds.
Driving Factors and Court Comments
The court heard he was a participant in numerous pro-Russian propaganda channels and was motivated by “plain and severe avarice”.
“This case is about the efforts of the Russian Federation to gain pernicious global influence using social media to recruit disruptors vast distances from Moscow.”
She determined the fire incident had a “link to terrorism” irrespective of if the individuals responsible knew it. The Wagner group is proscribed by the UK government as a terrorist organisation.
