Six Britons acting for the Wagner mercenary group linked to Russia have been sentenced to prison for igniting a London-based warehouse that was holding humanitarian aid intended for Ukraine.
Sentencing and Roles
While delivering the sentences, the presiding judge at the central criminal court stated that they had planned a “campaign of terrorism and sabotage” in the interests of the Russian government.
Dylan Earl was given a 17-year jail term with an extra six-year period on extended licence due to his “primary involvement”. Another defendant, Jake Reeves, a resident of Croydon, South London, was given 12 years in jail with one year on supervised release. Their admitted crimes made them the initial persons to be found guilty under the 2023 National Security Act.
Jakeem Rose, also from Croydon, was sentenced to eight years and 10 months. Nii Mensah, a Thornton Heath, South London local, was given nine years imprisonment and Ugnius Asmena, who was without a fixed address, was given seven years. The trio were each convicted of serious fire-setting and received a further year on supervised release by the court.
Ashton Evans, a 20-year-old individual involved in drug trafficking from Newport in Gwent, was jailed for nine years plus a further year on supervised release after being found guilty of failing to disclose details regarding terrorist acts relating to another plot in the Mayfair area.
Details of the Attack
The deliberate fire on a warehouse in Leyton, east London endangered sixty fire service personnel and resulted in £1m in damage in March last year.
The court heard that Earl, 21 and Reeves, 24 did not leave their bedrooms while organising the attack for the Wagner group, representing the Russian government.
The group selected the storage facility because it was being utilized for providing humanitarian aid and StarLink satellite equipment to Ukraine.
When the same Ukrainian company was subjected to an intentional fire 10 days later in Madrid, investigators from the Metropolitan Police's anti-terror unit took over the investigation.
Evidence and Further Plans
When Earl was arrested, law enforcement examination of his cellphone revealed he had recordings of the warehouse fire being started and was in contact with the Wagner group on the Telegram messaging app, via an account with the handles ‘Privet Bot’ and ‘Lucky Strike’.
Some of the messages indicated that reconnaissance for additional operations, involving arson attacks at a restaurant and wine shop in Mayfair belonging to the Russian opposition figure Evgeny Chichvarkin had already been carried out. The use of explosives to damage buildings was also deliberated.
Detectives found that Earl was also raising the potential abduction of Chichvarkin and “sending 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 residence inspection, police found a Russian flag, more than £20,000 in cash and cocaine with a street value of approximately thirty-four thousand pounds.
Motivations and Judicial Remarks
The court heard he was a participant in multiple pro-Russian propaganda channels and was motivated by “simple and ugly greed”.
“This case is about the attempts by the Russian government to acquire harmful worldwide sway using online platforms to enlist saboteurs far from the Russian capital.”
She found the arson attack had a “link to terrorism” irrespective of if the individuals responsible knew it. The Wagner group is proscribed by the British authorities as a terrorist group.
