Six Britons acting for Russia’s Wagner group have been sentenced to prison for setting fire to a London-based storage unit that was storing relief supplies destined for Ukraine.
Sentencing and Roles
While delivering the sentences, the judge at the Old Bailey remarked that they had orchestrated a “campaign of terrorism and sabotage” to benefit the Russian government.
Dylan Earl was given a 17-year jail term with an additional six years on extended licence due to his “primary involvement”. Another defendant, Jake Reeves, a resident of Croydon, South London, was given twelve years in jail with an additional year on extended licence. The offences they admitted made them the initial persons to be convicted under the 2023 National Security Act.
Jakeem Rose, aged 23, also a Croydon resident, was jailed for a term of eight years and ten months. Nii Mensah, a Thornton Heath, South London local, was given nine years and Ugnius Asmena, 21, who was without a fixed address, was handed seven years in prison. These three individuals were each convicted of serious fire-setting and given a additional year on supervised release by the judge.
Ashton Evans, a 20-year-old drug dealer from Newport in Gwent, was sentenced to nine years imprisonment plus a further year on extended licence after being found guilty of withholding information about acts of terrorism relating to a separate scheme in Mayfair.
Details of the Attack
The deliberate fire on a warehouse in Leyton, east London put 60 firefighters at risk and caused £1m in damage in March last year.
The court heard that the 21-year-old Earl and the 24-year-old Reeves did not leave their bedrooms while organising the attack for the Wagner mercenary organization, acting on behalf of the Russian government.
The group 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 hit by an intentional fire 10 days later in Madrid, investigators from the Metropolitan Police's anti-terror unit assumed control of the investigation.
Evidence and Further Plans
When Earl was taken into custody, police analysis of his cellphone uncovered he had recordings of the warehouse fire being started and was in communication with the Wagner organization on Telegram, via an account with the usernames ‘Privet Bot’ and ‘Lucky Strike’.
Some of the messages indicated that reconnaissance for further “missions”, involving fire-related incidents at a dining establishment and wine store 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 discussed.
Investigators found that Earl was also raising the possibility of kidnapping Chichvarkin and “sending him back to Russia to face prison”.
The drug dealer from Elmesthorpe in Leicestershire had talked about an additional planned incident in the Czech Republic.
In a residence inspection, law enforcement located a flag of Russia, more than £20,000 in cash and cocaine hydrochloride with a market value of about £34,000.
Motivations and Judicial Remarks
The court heard he was a participant in multiple pro-Russian propaganda channels 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 far from the Russian capital.”
She found the arson attack had a “terrorist connection” irrespective of if the individuals responsible knew it. The Wagner group is banned by the British authorities as a terrorist organisation.
