Six Britons acting for the Wagner mercenary group linked to Russia have been handed jail terms for igniting a London-based storage unit that was storing relief supplies intended for Ukraine.
Sentencing and Roles
While delivering the sentences, the presiding judge at the Old Bailey stated that they had planned a “campaign of terrorism and sabotage” to benefit the Russian government.
Dylan Earl was given a 17-year prison sentence with an additional six years on supervised release due to his “primary involvement”. Jake Reeves, a resident of Croydon, South London, was sentenced to twelve years in prison with one year on supervised release. The offences they admitted made them the initial persons to be convicted under the National Security Act 2023.
Jakeem Rose, aged 23, also from Croydon, was sentenced to a term of eight years and ten months. Nii Mensah, 23, from Thornton Heath, south London, was sentenced to nine years and Ugnius Asmena, who was homeless, was handed seven years. The trio were each convicted of serious fire-setting and given a additional year on extended licence by the judge.
Ashton Evans, a 20-year-old drug dealer from Newport in Gwent, was sentenced to nine years imprisonment plus a further year on supervised release after being found guilty of failing to disclose information about terrorist acts connected to a separate scheme in the Mayfair area.
Details of the Attack
The deliberate fire on a Leyton-based storage facility in East London put 60 firefighters at risk and caused £1m in damage in March last year.
The court heard that Earl, 21 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 group selected the storage facility because it was being used to supply humanitarian aid and StarLink satellite equipment to Ukraine.
When the same Ukrainian company was hit by 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, law enforcement examination of his mobile phone revealed he had recordings of the storage facility blaze being started and was in communication with the Wagner group on the Telegram messaging app, via an user profile with the usernames ‘Privet Bot’ and ‘Lucky Strike alias’.
Some of the communications indicated that reconnaissance for further “missions”, involving fire-related incidents at a restaurant and wine shop in Mayfair owned by the Russian opposition figure Evgeny Chichvarkin had already been carried out. The use of explosives to harm structures was also discussed.
Investigators found that Earl was also considering the possibility of kidnapping the dissident Chichvarkin and “sending him back to Russia to face prison”.
The individual involved in narcotics from Elmesthorpe in Leicestershire had talked about another potential attack in the Czech nation.
In a search of his home, police located 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 participant in numerous channels promoting Russian propaganda and was driven by “simple and ugly greed”.
“This case is about the attempts by the Russian government to acquire harmful worldwide sway using online platforms to enlist saboteurs vast distances from Moscow.”
She found the fire incident had a “link to terrorism” regardless of whether the perpetrators knew it. The Wagner organization is proscribed by the British authorities as a terrorist group.
