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
Sentencing the men, the presiding judge at the central criminal court remarked that they had orchestrated a “series of terrorist and sabotage acts” in the interests of the Russian government.
Dylan Earl received a seventeen-year jail term with an additional six years on extended licence due to his “leading role”. Another defendant, Jake Reeves, from Croydon in south London, was sentenced to 12 years in jail with an additional year on supervised release. Their admitted crimes made them the initial persons to be convicted under the 2023 National Security Act.
Jakeem Rose, aged 23, also from Croydon, was jailed for a term of eight years and ten months. Nii Mensah, 23, a Thornton Heath, South London local, was sentenced to nine years imprisonment and Ugnius Asmena, 21, who was without a fixed address, was handed seven years. The trio were each found guilty of aggravated arson and received a further year on extended licence by the court.
Ashton Evans individual involved in drug trafficking hailing from Newport, Gwent, was sentenced to nine years imprisonment plus a further year on supervised release after being convicted of withholding details regarding acts of terrorism relating to another plot in Mayfair.
Details of the Attack
The arson attack 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 organising the attack for the Wagner group, representing the Russian government.
The group targeted the storage facility because it was being utilized for providing humanitarian aid and StarLink satellite equipment to Ukraine.
When the same Ukrainian company was hit by an arson attack 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 recordings of the storage facility blaze being initiated and was in contact with the Wagner organization on Telegram, via an user profile with the handles ‘Privet Bot account’ and ‘Lucky Strike’.
Some of the communications showed that reconnaissance for further “missions”, involving fire-related incidents at a dining establishment and wine shop in Mayfair district owned by the Russian opposition figure Evgeny Chichvarkin had already been carried out. The employment of explosive devices to harm structures was also discussed.
Investigators discovered that Earl was also raising the possibility of kidnapping Chichvarkin and “sending him back to Russia to face prison”.
The drug dealer from Elmesthorpe, Leicestershire had talked about another potential attack in the Czech nation.
In a search of his home, police located a Russian flag, over twenty thousand pounds in currency and cocaine with a market value of approximately thirty-four thousand pounds.
Driving Factors and Court Comments
The court heard he was a member of numerous pro-Russian propaganda channels and was motivated by “simple and ugly greed”.
“This legal matter concerns the efforts of the Russian Federation to gain pernicious global influence using social media to recruit disruptors far from the Russian capital.”
She found the fire incident had a “terrorist connection” irrespective of if the individuals responsible knew it. The Wagner group is proscribed by the British authorities as a terrorist organisation.
