Six Britons acting for the Wagner mercenary group linked to Russia have been sentenced to prison for setting fire to a located in London storage unit that was storing relief supplies intended for Ukraine.
Sentencing and Roles
While delivering the sentences, the presiding judge at the Old Bailey stated that they had planned a “series of terrorist and sabotage acts” to benefit the Russian government.
Dylan Earl was given a 17-year prison sentence with an extra six-year period on extended licence due to his “primary involvement”. Another defendant, Jake Reeves, from Croydon in south London, was sentenced to 12 years in jail with one year on extended licence. The offences they admitted resulted in them being the initial persons 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, 23, from Thornton Heath, south London, was sentenced to nine years imprisonment and Ugnius Asmena, 21, who was homeless, was given seven years in prison. These three individuals were each convicted of serious fire-setting and received a further year on extended licence by the judge.
Ashton Evans drug dealer hailing from Newport, Gwent, was sentenced to nine years imprisonment plus a further year on supervised release after being found guilty of withholding information about terrorist acts connected to a separate scheme in the Mayfair area.
Incident Specifics
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 proceedings revealed that Earl, 21 and Reeves, 24 remained in their residences while organising the attack for the Wagner mercenary organization, acting on behalf of the Russian Federation.
The group selected the storage facility because it was being utilized for providing humanitarian aid and satellite communication gear to Ukraine.
When the identical Ukrainian firm was subjected to an arson attack ten days afterward in the Spanish capital, detectives from the Met’s counter-terrorism command took over the investigation.
Proof and Additional Schemes
When Earl was arrested, police analysis of his mobile phone revealed he had videos of the storage facility blaze being started and was in contact 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 restaurant and wine shop in Mayfair belonging to the Russian opposition figure Evgeny Chichvarkin had already taken place. The use of explosives to damage buildings was also discussed.
Detectives found that Earl was also considering the potential abduction of the dissident Chichvarkin and “exiling him back to Russia to face prison”.
The individual involved in narcotics from Elmesthorpe, Leicestershire had discussed an additional planned incident in the Czech Republic.
In a residence inspection, police found a flag of Russia, over twenty thousand pounds in currency and cocaine with a street value of approximately thirty-four thousand pounds.
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 legal matter concerns the attempts by the Russian government to acquire harmful worldwide sway using social media to recruit disruptors vast distances from Moscow.”
She found the fire incident had a “link to terrorism” regardless of whether the individuals responsible were aware of it. The Wagner group is proscribed by the UK government as a terrorist organisation.
