A group of six individuals from Britain acting for the Wagner mercenary group linked to Russia have been handed jail terms for igniting a London-based storage unit that was storing relief supplies intended for Ukraine.
Sentencing and Roles
Sentencing the men, the presiding judge at the central criminal court stated that they had orchestrated a “campaign of terrorism and sabotage” in the interests of the Russian government.
The individual named Dylan Earl received a 17-year prison sentence with an extra six-year period on supervised release due to his “primary involvement”. Another defendant, Jake Reeves, from Croydon in south London, was sentenced to 12 years in prison with an additional year on extended licence. Their admitted crimes made them the first individuals to be found guilty under the National Security Act 2023.
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 and Ugnius Asmena, 21, who was homeless, was given seven years. These three individuals were each convicted of aggravated arson and given a further year on supervised release by the court.
Ashton Evans individual involved in drug trafficking hailing from Newport, Gwent, was jailed for nine years with an extra year on supervised release after being convicted of withholding information about acts of terrorism connected to a separate scheme in Mayfair.
Details of the Attack
The arson attack on a warehouse in Leyton, east London put 60 firefighters at risk and resulted in £1m in damage in March last year.
The court heard that the 21-year-old Earl and the 24-year-old Reeves remained in their residences while organising the attack for the Wagner group, acting on behalf of the Russian Federation.
The group selected the storage facility because it was being utilized for providing emergency relief and satellite communication gear to Ukraine.
When the same Ukrainian company was subjected to an arson attack 10 days later in the Spanish capital, detectives from the Met’s counter-terrorism command assumed control of the probe.
Evidence and Further Plans
When Earl was taken into custody, police analysis of his mobile phone uncovered he had videos of the warehouse fire being initiated and was in communication with the Wagner group on the Telegram messaging app, via an user profile with the usernames ‘Privet Bot’ and ‘Lucky Strike’.
Some of the messages indicated that reconnaissance for additional operations, involving fire-related incidents at a dining establishment and wine store in Mayfair owned by the Russian opposition figure Evgeny Chichvarkin had already been carried out. The employment of explosive devices to damage buildings was also deliberated.
Detectives discovered that the defendant Earl was also raising the possibility of kidnapping the dissident Chichvarkin and “sending 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 search of his home, law enforcement located a Russian flag, more than £20,000 in cash and cocaine hydrochloride with a street value of about £34,000.
Driving Factors and Court Comments
The court heard he was a participant in numerous pro-Russian propaganda channels and was motivated by “simple and ugly greed”.
“This legal matter concerns the attempts by the Russian government to gain pernicious global influence using social media to recruit disruptors vast distances from Moscow.”
She determined the fire incident had a “link to terrorism” regardless of whether the perpetrators were aware of it. The Wagner group is banned by the British authorities as a terrorist organisation.
