A group of six individuals from Britain working on behalf of the Wagner mercenary group linked to Russia have been handed jail terms for setting fire to a located in London storage unit that was storing humanitarian aid intended for Ukraine.
Sentencing and Roles
Sentencing the men, the presiding judge at the Old Bailey remarked that they had planned a “series of terrorist and sabotage acts” to benefit the Russian state.
Dylan Earl received a 17-year prison sentence with an extra six-year period on extended licence due to his “leading role”. Jake Reeves, from Croydon in south London, was sentenced to 12 years in jail with an additional year on supervised release. The offences they admitted resulted in them being the initial persons to be convicted under the National Security Act 2023.
Jakeem Rose, also from Croydon, was sentenced to eight years and 10 months. Nii Mensah, 23, from Thornton Heath, south London, was sentenced to nine years and Ugnius Asmena, who was homeless, was given seven years in prison. The trio were each found guilty of serious fire-setting and given a additional year on supervised release by the court.
Ashton Evans drug dealer hailing from Newport, Gwent, was sentenced to nine years with an extra year on extended licence after being convicted of failing to disclose information about acts of terrorism connected to another plot in Mayfair.
Details of the Attack
The deliberate fire on a Leyton-based storage facility in East London endangered sixty fire service personnel and resulted in one million pounds worth of destruction in March of the previous 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 Federation.
The individuals involved targeted the storage facility because it was being used to supply emergency relief and satellite communication gear to Ukraine.
When the same Ukrainian company was hit by an intentional fire 10 days later in Madrid, 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 uncovered he had videos of the storage facility blaze being initiated and was in communication with the Wagner group on the Telegram messaging app, 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 shop in Mayfair belonging to the Russian dissident Evgeny Chichvarkin had already taken place. The employment of explosive devices to harm structures was also deliberated.
Detectives found that Earl was also raising the possibility of kidnapping Chichvarkin and “sending him back to Russia to face prison”.
The individual involved in narcotics from Elmesthorpe in Leicestershire had talked about an additional planned incident in the Czech Republic.
In a residence inspection, law enforcement located a Russian flag, more than £20,000 in cash and cocaine hydrochloride with a market value of approximately thirty-four thousand pounds.
Driving Factors and Court Comments
The court heard he was a member of numerous channels promoting Russian propaganda and was motivated by “plain and severe avarice”.
“This case is about the efforts of the Russian Federation to gain pernicious global influence using online platforms to enlist saboteurs vast distances from Moscow.”
She found the fire incident had a “terrorist connection” irrespective of if the individuals responsible knew it. The Wagner organization is proscribed by the British authorities as a terrorist organisation.
