Six Britons working on behalf of the Wagner mercenary group linked to Russia have been handed jail terms for setting fire to a London-based warehouse that was holding relief supplies intended for Ukraine.
Sentencing and Roles
Sentencing the men, the judge at the Old Bailey remarked that they had orchestrated a “series of terrorist and sabotage acts” in the interests of the Russian state.
The individual named Dylan Earl was given 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 given 12 years in prison with one year on extended licence. The offences they admitted made them the initial persons to be convicted under the National Security Act 2023.
Jakeem Rose, also a Croydon resident, was jailed for eight years and 10 months. Nii Mensah, 23, from Thornton Heath, south London, was given nine years and Ugnius Asmena, 21, who was homeless, was handed seven years in prison. These three individuals were each convicted of serious fire-setting and received a further year on extended licence by the judge.
Ashton Evans, a 20-year-old drug dealer from Newport in Gwent, was sentenced to nine years with an extra year on supervised release after being found guilty of failing to disclose details regarding acts of terrorism relating to a separate scheme in the Mayfair area.
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 last year.
The proceedings revealed that Earl, 21 and Reeves, 24 remained in their residences while organising the attack for the Wagner group, acting on behalf of the Russian government.
The individuals involved targeted the storage facility because it was being used to supply emergency relief and StarLink satellite equipment to Ukraine.
When the same Ukrainian company was subjected to an intentional fire ten days afterward in Madrid, detectives from the Met’s counter-terrorism command assumed control of the investigation.
Proof and Additional Schemes
When Earl was arrested, law enforcement examination of his cellphone uncovered he had videos of the warehouse fire being started and was in contact 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 messages indicated that reconnaissance for further “missions”, involving arson attacks at a dining establishment and wine store in Mayfair owned by the Russian opposition figure Evgeny Chichvarkin had already been carried out. The use of explosives to damage buildings was also deliberated.
Investigators discovered that the defendant Earl was also considering the potential abduction of the dissident Chichvarkin and “exiling him back to Russia to confront imprisonment”.
The drug dealer from Elmesthorpe, Leicestershire had discussed another potential attack in the Czech nation.
In a search of his home, law enforcement located a Russian flag, more than £20,000 in cash and cocaine with a street value of about £34,000.
Driving Factors and Court Comments
The court heard he was a participant in numerous channels promoting Russian propaganda and was motivated by “plain and severe avarice”.
“This legal matter concerns the efforts of the Russian Federation to acquire harmful worldwide sway using online platforms to enlist saboteurs vast distances from Moscow.”
She found the fire incident had a “terrorist connection” regardless of whether the perpetrators were aware of it. The Wagner organization is banned by the UK government as a terrorist organisation.
