Six Britons acting for Russia’s Wagner group have been sentenced to prison for igniting a London-based warehouse that was holding humanitarian aid destined 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 received a 17-year prison sentence with an additional six years on extended licence due to his “primary involvement”. Jake Reeves, a resident of Croydon, South London, was sentenced to twelve years in prison with one year on extended licence. Their admitted crimes made them the initial persons to be convicted under the 2023 National Security Act.
Jakeem Rose, also a Croydon resident, was jailed for a term of eight years and ten months. Nii Mensah, from Thornton Heath, south London, was given nine years imprisonment and Ugnius Asmena, who was without a fixed address, was given seven years in prison. These three individuals were each convicted of serious fire-setting and received a further year on supervised release by the judge.
Ashton Evans, a 20-year-old drug dealer from Newport in Gwent, was sentenced to nine years plus a further year on supervised release after being convicted of failing to disclose information about terrorist acts connected to a separate scheme in the Mayfair area.
Details of the Attack
The arson attack on a warehouse in Leyton, east London put 60 firefighters at risk and resulted in one million pounds worth of destruction 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 individuals involved targeted the warehouse 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 Madrid, investigators from the Metropolitan Police's anti-terror unit assumed control of the probe.
Evidence and Further Plans
When Earl was arrested, police analysis of his cellphone uncovered he had videos of the storage facility blaze being started and was in communication with the Wagner group on Telegram, via an account with the usernames ‘Privet Bot account’ and ‘Lucky Strike alias’.
Some of the communications showed that reconnaissance for additional operations, involving fire-related incidents at a dining establishment and wine shop in Mayfair district belonging to the Russian opposition figure Evgeny Chichvarkin had already been carried out. The employment of explosive devices to damage buildings was also deliberated.
Investigators discovered that the defendant Earl was also raising the possibility of kidnapping Chichvarkin and “sending him back to Russia to confront imprisonment”.
The drug dealer from Elmesthorpe in Leicestershire had discussed an additional planned incident in the Czech Republic.
In a search of his home, law enforcement found a flag of Russia, over twenty thousand pounds in currency and cocaine with a market value of about £34,000.
Motivations and Judicial Remarks
The court heard he was a member of numerous channels promoting Russian propaganda and was motivated by “simple and ugly greed”.
“This case is about the efforts of the Russian Federation to gain pernicious global influence using social media to enlist saboteurs far from the Russian capital.”
She found the fire incident had a “terrorist connection” irrespective of if the perpetrators knew it. The Wagner group is banned by the British authorities as a terrorist organisation.
