Six Britons working on behalf of Russia’s Wagner group have been sentenced to prison for setting fire to a located in London storage unit that was holding relief supplies destined for Ukraine.
Sentencing and Roles
While delivering the sentences, the judge at the Old Bailey stated that they had planned a “series of terrorist and sabotage acts” in the interests of the Russian government.
The individual named Dylan Earl received a seventeen-year jail term with an extra six-year period on supervised release due to his “leading role”. Another defendant, Jake Reeves, a resident of Croydon, South London, was given 12 years in jail with an additional year on extended licence. The offences they admitted resulted in them being the first individuals to be found guilty under the National Security Act 2023.
Jakeem Rose, also from Croydon, was sentenced to eight years and 10 months. Nii Mensah, 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. The trio were each found guilty of serious fire-setting and given a additional year on supervised release by the court.
Ashton Evans, a 20-year-old drug dealer hailing from Newport, Gwent, was sentenced to nine years plus a further year on supervised release after being found guilty of withholding information about acts of terrorism connected to a separate scheme in Mayfair.
Details of the Attack
The arson attack on a Leyton-based storage facility in East London put 60 firefighters at risk and caused £1m in damage in March of the previous year.
The court heard that the 21-year-old Earl and Reeves, 24 did not leave their bedrooms while organising the attack for the Wagner mercenary organization, representing 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 same Ukrainian company was subjected to an arson attack ten days afterward in the Spanish capital, investigators from the Metropolitan Police's anti-terror unit took over the investigation.
Proof and Additional Schemes
When Earl was taken into custody, police analysis of his mobile phone uncovered 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 alias’.
Some of the messages showed that reconnaissance for further “missions”, involving fire-related incidents at a dining establishment and wine store in Mayfair belonging to the Russian opposition figure Evgeny Chichvarkin had already taken place. The employment of explosive devices to harm structures was also discussed.
Detectives found that 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 talked about another potential attack in the Czech nation.
In a search of his home, law enforcement found a flag of Russia, over twenty thousand pounds in currency and cocaine hydrochloride with a street value of about £34,000.
Motivations and Judicial Remarks
The court heard he was a member of multiple pro-Russian propaganda channels and was driven by “simple and ugly greed”.
“This legal matter concerns the attempts by the Russian government to acquire harmful worldwide sway using social media to enlist saboteurs vast distances from Moscow.”
She found the fire incident had a “terrorist connection” regardless of whether the individuals responsible were aware of it. The Wagner organization is proscribed by the UK government as a terrorist group.
