A group of six individuals from Britain acting for Russia’s Wagner group have been handed jail terms for setting fire to a London-based storage unit that was storing humanitarian aid intended for Ukraine.
Sentencing and Roles
While delivering the sentences, the judge at the Old Bailey stated that they had planned a “campaign of terrorism and sabotage” in the interests of the Russian state.
Dylan Earl received a 17-year jail term with an extra six-year period on supervised release due to his “leading role”. Jake Reeves, a resident of Croydon, South London, was sentenced to 12 years in jail with one year on extended licence. The offences they admitted resulted in them being the initial persons to be found guilty under the 2023 National Security Act.
Jakeem Rose, also from Croydon, was sentenced to eight years and 10 months. Nii Mensah, from Thornton Heath, south London, was sentenced to nine years and Ugnius Asmena, who was without a fixed address, was handed seven years in prison. The trio were each found guilty of aggravated arson and received a further year on supervised release by the judge.
Ashton Evans individual involved in drug trafficking from Newport in Gwent, was jailed for nine years imprisonment with an extra year on extended licence after being found guilty of failing to disclose details regarding terrorist acts connected to another plot in the Mayfair area.
Details of the Attack
The deliberate fire on a Leyton-based storage facility in East London endangered sixty fire service personnel 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 organising the attack for the Wagner mercenary organization, acting on behalf of the Russian government.
The individuals involved selected the storage facility because it was being used to supply humanitarian aid and StarLink satellite equipment to Ukraine.
When the identical Ukrainian firm was hit by an intentional fire ten days afterward in the Spanish capital, investigators from the Metropolitan Police's anti-terror unit took over the investigation.
Evidence and Further Plans
When Earl was taken into custody, law enforcement examination of his cellphone uncovered he had videos of the storage facility blaze being initiated and was in contact with the Wagner organization on the Telegram messaging app, via an user profile with the usernames ‘Privet Bot’ and ‘Lucky Strike alias’.
Some of the messages indicated that preliminary surveillance for further “missions”, involving fire-related incidents at a restaurant and wine shop in Mayfair district owned by the Russian dissident Evgeny Chichvarkin had already taken place. The use of explosives to damage buildings was also deliberated.
Investigators found that Earl was also raising the potential abduction of 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, police located a flag of Russia, more than £20,000 in cash and cocaine hydrochloride with a street value of approximately thirty-four thousand pounds.
Motivations and Judicial Remarks
The proceedings revealed he was a member of multiple channels promoting Russian propaganda and was driven by “plain and severe avarice”.
“This case is about the efforts of the Russian Federation to gain pernicious global influence using online platforms to enlist saboteurs far from the Russian capital.”
She found the arson attack had a “link to terrorism” regardless of whether the individuals responsible knew it. The Wagner group is proscribed by the British authorities as a terrorist organisation.
