Six Britons acting for the Wagner mercenary group linked to Russia have been sentenced to prison for igniting a London-based warehouse that was storing humanitarian aid destined for Ukraine.
Sentencing and Roles
Sentencing the men, the judge at the central criminal court stated that they had planned a “series of terrorist and sabotage acts” in the interests of the Russian government.
Dylan Earl was given 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 sentenced to twelve years in jail with one year on supervised release. Their admitted crimes made them the initial persons to be convicted 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, 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 in prison. These three individuals were each found guilty of aggravated arson and received a additional year on supervised release by the judge.
Ashton Evans, a 20-year-old individual involved in drug trafficking from Newport in Gwent, was sentenced to nine years imprisonment plus a further year on extended licence after being convicted of withholding information about terrorist acts connected to a separate scheme in the Mayfair area.
Details of the Attack
The arson attack on a Leyton-based storage facility in East London put 60 firefighters at risk and resulted in £1m in damage in March last year.
The court heard that Earl, 21 and Reeves, 24 did not leave their bedrooms while coordinating the incident for the Wagner mercenary organization, representing the Russian government.
The group selected the warehouse because it was being used to supply emergency relief and satellite communication gear to Ukraine.
When the same Ukrainian company was hit by an intentional fire ten days afterward in Madrid, detectives from the Met’s counter-terrorism command took over the probe.
Evidence and Further Plans
When Earl was arrested, law enforcement examination of his cellphone uncovered he had recordings of the storage facility blaze being initiated and was in communication with the Wagner organization on the Telegram messaging app, via an account with the handles ‘Privet Bot account’ and ‘Lucky Strike alias’.
Some of the communications showed that reconnaissance for additional operations, involving arson attacks at a dining establishment and wine store in Mayfair district belonging to the Russian dissident Evgeny Chichvarkin had already taken place. The employment of explosive devices to harm structures was also discussed.
Investigators found that Earl was also raising the possibility of kidnapping Chichvarkin and “sending him back to Russia to confront imprisonment”.
The drug dealer from Elmesthorpe in Leicestershire had talked about an additional planned incident in the Czech Republic.
In a residence inspection, law enforcement located a Russian flag, over twenty thousand pounds in currency and cocaine hydrochloride with a market value of approximately thirty-four thousand pounds.
Driving Factors and Court Comments
The court heard he was a member of numerous channels promoting Russian propaganda and was motivated by “plain and severe avarice”.
“This legal matter concerns the efforts of the Russian Federation to gain pernicious global influence using social media to enlist saboteurs vast distances from Moscow.”
She determined the fire incident had a “terrorist connection” irrespective of if the perpetrators were aware of it. The Wagner group is proscribed by the UK government as a terrorist organisation.
