A group of six individuals from Britain acting for the Wagner mercenary group linked to Russia have been sentenced to prison for igniting a London-based storage unit that was storing relief supplies destined for Ukraine.
Court Rulings and Involvement
Sentencing the men, the presiding judge at the central criminal court stated that they had planned a “series of terrorist and sabotage acts” to benefit the Russian government.
Dylan Earl received a seventeen-year prison sentence 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 one year on supervised release. The offences they admitted made them the first individuals to be found guilty 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, 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. The trio were each convicted of serious fire-setting and given a additional year on extended licence by the judge.
Ashton Evans drug dealer hailing from Newport, Gwent, was jailed for nine years imprisonment plus a further year on extended licence after being convicted of failing to disclose details regarding terrorist acts relating to a separate scheme in Mayfair.
Details of the Attack
The arson attack on a Leyton-based storage facility in East London endangered sixty fire service personnel 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 coordinating the incident for the Wagner group, representing the Russian government.
The individuals involved selected the storage facility because it was being used to supply humanitarian aid and satellite communication gear to Ukraine.
When the same Ukrainian company was subjected to an arson attack 10 days later in the Spanish capital, investigators from the Metropolitan Police's anti-terror unit took over the investigation.
Evidence and Further Plans
When Earl was arrested, police analysis of his mobile phone uncovered he had recordings of the storage facility blaze being started and was in communication with the Wagner group on Telegram, 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 store in Mayfair belonging to the Russian dissident Evgeny Chichvarkin had already taken place. The employment of explosive devices to damage buildings was also discussed.
Investigators found that Earl was also raising the potential abduction of the dissident Chichvarkin and “exiling him back to Russia to face prison”.
The individual involved in narcotics from Elmesthorpe in Leicestershire had discussed an additional planned incident in the Czech nation.
In a search of his home, law enforcement found a flag of Russia, more than £20,000 in cash and cocaine with a street value of approximately thirty-four thousand pounds.
Driving Factors and Court Comments
The court heard he was a member of multiple channels promoting Russian propaganda and was driven 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 determined the arson attack had a “terrorist connection” irrespective of if the individuals responsible were aware of it. The Wagner group is proscribed by the British authorities as a terrorist group.
