🔗 Share this article

A group of six individuals from Britain acting for the Wagner mercenary group linked to Russia have been sentenced to prison for setting fire to a London-based warehouse that was storing relief supplies intended for Ukraine.

Court Rulings and Involvement

Sentencing the men, the presiding judge at the Old Bailey stated that they had orchestrated a “series of terrorist and sabotage acts” to benefit the Russian state.

The individual named Dylan Earl received a 17-year jail term with an extra six-year period on extended licence due to his “leading role”. Another defendant, Jake Reeves, from Croydon in south London, was given twelve years in prison with an additional year on extended licence. Their admitted crimes made them the initial persons to be found guilty under the National Security Act 2023.

Jakeem Rose, also from Croydon, was jailed for a term of eight years and ten months. Nii Mensah, from Thornton Heath, south London, was given nine years and Ugnius Asmena, who was without a fixed address, was handed seven years in prison. The trio were each convicted of serious fire-setting and given a additional year on supervised release by the court.

Ashton Evans, a 20-year-old drug dealer hailing from Newport, Gwent, was sentenced to nine years with an extra year on extended licence after being convicted of withholding information about terrorist acts relating to another plot in the Mayfair area.

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 proceedings revealed that the 21-year-old Earl and the 24-year-old Reeves did not leave their bedrooms while organising the attack for the Wagner group, representing the Russian Federation.

The group targeted the warehouse because it was being used to supply emergency relief and StarLink satellite equipment to Ukraine.

When the identical Ukrainian firm was hit by an intentional fire 10 days later in Madrid, investigators from the Metropolitan Police's anti-terror unit assumed control of the probe.

Proof and Additional Schemes

When Earl was arrested, police analysis of his cellphone revealed he had recordings of the warehouse fire being initiated and was in communication with the Wagner group on the Telegram messaging app, via an account with the usernames ‘Privet Bot’ and ‘Lucky Strike alias’.

Some of the communications showed that reconnaissance for additional operations, involving fire-related incidents at a dining establishment and wine store in Mayfair district owned by the Russian dissident Evgeny Chichvarkin had already been carried out. The use of explosives to harm structures was also discussed.

Investigators found that the defendant 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 another potential attack in the Czech Republic.

In a search of his home, police found a Russian flag, more than £20,000 in cash and cocaine hydrochloride with a market value of about £34,000.

Driving Factors and Court Comments

The court heard he was a participant in numerous channels promoting Russian propaganda and was driven by “simple and ugly greed”.

“This legal matter concerns 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 “link to terrorism” irrespective of if the individuals responsible were aware of it. The Wagner group is banned by the British authorities as a terrorist organisation.