Six Britons working on behalf of Russia’s Wagner group have been handed jail terms for igniting a located in London storage unit that was storing relief supplies intended for Ukraine.
Sentencing and Roles
Sentencing the men, the presiding judge at the Old Bailey stated that they had orchestrated a “campaign of terrorism and sabotage” to benefit the Russian state.
Dylan Earl was given 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 prison with one year on supervised release. The offences they admitted resulted in them being the first individuals to be found guilty under the National Security Act 2023.
Jakeem Rose, 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 and Ugnius Asmena, 21, who was homeless, was handed seven years. These three individuals were each found guilty of serious fire-setting and received a further year on extended licence by the court.
Ashton Evans drug dealer from Newport in Gwent, was sentenced to nine years imprisonment plus a further year on extended licence after being convicted of failing to disclose details regarding acts of terrorism relating to a separate scheme in Mayfair.
Details of the Attack
The deliberate fire on a warehouse in Leyton, east London endangered sixty fire service personnel and caused £1m in damage in March of the previous year.
The court heard that the 21-year-old Earl and the 24-year-old Reeves did not leave their bedrooms while organising the attack for the Wagner mercenary organization, acting on behalf of the Russian government.
The group targeted the warehouse because it was being utilized for providing emergency relief and StarLink satellite equipment to Ukraine.
When the same Ukrainian company was hit by an intentional fire 10 days later in Madrid, investigators from the Metropolitan Police's anti-terror unit assumed control of the investigation.
Evidence and Further Plans
When Earl was taken into custody, police analysis of his cellphone uncovered he had videos of the storage facility blaze being initiated and was in contact with the Wagner organization on Telegram, via an account with the handles ‘Privet Bot’ and ‘Lucky Strike alias’.
Some of the messages showed that preliminary surveillance for further “missions”, involving arson attacks at a dining establishment and wine store in Mayfair belonging to the Russian dissident Evgeny Chichvarkin had already been carried out. The employment of explosive devices to damage buildings was also discussed.
Detectives found that the defendant Earl was also raising the potential abduction of the dissident Chichvarkin and “sending him back to Russia to confront imprisonment”.
The drug dealer from Elmesthorpe in Leicestershire had discussed an additional planned incident in the Czech Republic.
In a search of his home, police located a Russian flag, over twenty thousand pounds in currency and cocaine hydrochloride with a street value of about £34,000.
Motivations and Judicial Remarks
The court heard he was a member of numerous channels promoting Russian propaganda and was driven by “simple and ugly greed”.
“This legal matter concerns the efforts of the Russian Federation to acquire harmful worldwide sway using social media to recruit disruptors far from the Russian capital.”
She found the arson attack had a “terrorist connection” regardless of whether the perpetrators were aware of it. The Wagner group is banned by the British authorities as a terrorist organisation.