Six Britons working on behalf of Russia’s Wagner group have been sentenced to prison for igniting a London-based storage unit that was storing humanitarian aid destined for Ukraine.
Sentencing and Roles
While delivering the sentences, the judge at the central criminal court remarked that they had orchestrated a “campaign of terrorism and sabotage” in the interests of the Russian government.
Dylan Earl received a 17-year jail term with an additional six years on supervised release due to his “primary involvement”. Another defendant, Jake Reeves, a resident of Croydon, South London, was sentenced to 12 years in prison 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 jailed for a term of eight years and ten months. Nii Mensah, 23, from Thornton Heath, south London, was sentenced to nine years imprisonment and Ugnius Asmena, 21, who was without a fixed address, was handed seven years in prison. The trio were each convicted of aggravated arson and received a further year on supervised release by the court.
Ashton Evans, a 20-year-old individual involved in drug trafficking hailing from Newport, Gwent, was jailed for nine years with an extra year on extended licence after being convicted of failing to disclose details regarding acts of terrorism relating to a separate scheme in Mayfair.
Details of the Attack
The deliberate fire on a Leyton-based storage facility in East London put 60 firefighters at risk and caused one million pounds worth of destruction in March last year.
The court heard that Earl, 21 and Reeves, 24 remained in their residences while coordinating the incident for the Wagner mercenary organization, acting on behalf of the Russian Federation.
The individuals involved targeted the storage facility because it was being used to supply humanitarian aid and satellite communication gear to Ukraine.
When the same Ukrainian company was hit by an arson attack 10 days later in the Spanish capital, investigators from the Metropolitan Police's anti-terror unit took over the probe.
Proof and Additional Schemes
When Earl was arrested, police analysis of his mobile phone revealed he had videos of the warehouse fire being initiated and was in contact with the Wagner organization on the Telegram messaging app, via an account with the usernames ‘Privet Bot’ and ‘Lucky Strike alias’.
Some of the communications showed that reconnaissance for additional operations, involving arson attacks at a restaurant and wine shop in Mayfair belonging to the Russian dissident Evgeny Chichvarkin had already been carried out. The employment of explosive devices to damage buildings was also deliberated.
Detectives found that Earl was also considering the possibility of kidnapping the dissident Chichvarkin and “exiling him back to Russia to confront imprisonment”.
The individual involved in narcotics from Elmesthorpe, Leicestershire had discussed an additional planned incident in the Czech nation.
In a search of his home, police 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 case is about the attempts by the Russian government to gain pernicious global influence using online platforms to enlist saboteurs far from the Russian capital.”
She found the fire incident had a “terrorist connection” irrespective of if the individuals responsible knew it. The Wagner organization is banned by the UK government as a terrorist organisation.
