A group of six individuals from Britain acting for the Wagner mercenary group linked to Russia have been sentenced to prison for setting fire to 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 remarked that they had planned a “series of terrorist and sabotage acts” in the interests of the Russian state.
Dylan Earl was given a seventeen-year prison sentence with an additional six years on extended licence due to his “primary involvement”. Jake Reeves, from Croydon in south London, was given twelve 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 National Security Act 2023.
Jakeem Rose, aged 23, also a Croydon resident, was jailed for a term of eight years and ten months. Nii Mensah, from Thornton Heath, south London, was sentenced to nine years and Ugnius Asmena, who was homeless, was handed seven years. These three individuals 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 with an extra year on extended licence after being found guilty of failing to disclose information about acts of terrorism relating to another plot in Mayfair.
Details of the Attack
The deliberate fire on a warehouse in Leyton, east London put 60 firefighters at risk and resulted in £1m in damage in March last year.
The court heard that the 21-year-old Earl 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 individuals involved targeted the storage facility because it was being utilized for providing emergency relief and StarLink satellite equipment to Ukraine.
When the identical Ukrainian firm 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, police analysis of his mobile phone revealed he had videos of the storage facility blaze being initiated and was in communication with the Wagner group on Telegram, via an account with the handles ‘Privet Bot account’ 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 belonging to the Russian opposition figure Evgeny Chichvarkin had already been carried out. The employment of explosive devices to harm structures was also discussed.
Detectives discovered that Earl was also raising the possibility of kidnapping the dissident Chichvarkin and “exiling him back to Russia to confront imprisonment”.
The individual involved in narcotics from Elmesthorpe in Leicestershire had talked about another potential attack in the Czech Republic.
In a search of his home, law enforcement found a Russian flag, over twenty thousand pounds in currency and cocaine with a street value of approximately thirty-four thousand pounds.
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 case is about the efforts of the Russian Federation to acquire harmful worldwide sway using online platforms to recruit disruptors vast distances from Moscow.”
She found the arson attack had a “link to terrorism” regardless of whether the individuals responsible were aware of it. The Wagner organization is banned by the UK government as a terrorist organisation.
