Six Britons working on behalf of Russia’s Wagner group have been sentenced to prison for igniting a London-based storage unit that was storing relief supplies destined for Ukraine.
Sentencing and Roles
While delivering the sentences, the judge at the central criminal court remarked that they had planned a “campaign of terrorism and sabotage” in the interests of the Russian government.
Dylan Earl was given a 17-year prison sentence with an additional six years on extended licence due to his “primary involvement”. Another defendant, Jake Reeves, from Croydon in south London, was given twelve years in jail with an additional year on supervised release. Their admitted crimes resulted in them being the first individuals to be convicted under the 2023 National Security Act.
Jakeem Rose, also a Croydon resident, was jailed for eight years and 10 months. Nii Mensah, 23, from Thornton Heath, south London, was sentenced to nine years imprisonment and Ugnius Asmena, 21, who was without a fixed address, was handed seven years. These three individuals were each found guilty of serious fire-setting and received a additional year on extended licence by the judge.
Ashton Evans drug dealer hailing from Newport, Gwent, was sentenced to nine years plus a further year on extended licence after being convicted of withholding information about acts of terrorism relating to another plot in Mayfair.
Details of the Attack
The deliberate fire 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 proceedings revealed that Earl, 21 and Reeves, 24 did not leave their bedrooms while coordinating the incident for the Wagner group, representing the Russian government.
The group selected the warehouse 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 ten days afterward in the Spanish capital, investigators from the Metropolitan Police's anti-terror unit took over the probe.
Evidence and Further Plans
When Earl was arrested, police analysis of his mobile phone revealed he had recordings of the storage facility blaze being started 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 messages showed that reconnaissance for further “missions”, involving fire-related incidents at a dining establishment and wine store in Mayfair owned by the Russian dissident Evgeny Chichvarkin had already been carried out. The employment of explosive devices to harm structures was also discussed.
Investigators discovered that the defendant Earl was also considering the possibility of kidnapping Chichvarkin and “exiling him back to Russia to face prison”.
The drug dealer from Elmesthorpe in Leicestershire had discussed an additional planned incident in the Czech nation.
In a search of his home, law enforcement located a flag of Russia, over twenty thousand pounds in currency and cocaine hydrochloride with a street value of approximately thirty-four thousand pounds.
Motivations and Judicial Remarks
The court heard he was a participant in numerous pro-Russian propaganda channels and was motivated by “simple and ugly greed”.
“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 determined the arson attack had a “terrorist connection” regardless of whether the perpetrators knew it. The Wagner group is banned by the UK government as a terrorist group.
