🔗 Share this article

A group of six individuals from Britain acting for Russia’s Wagner group have been sentenced to prison for igniting a London-based warehouse that was storing relief supplies destined for Ukraine.

Court Rulings and Involvement

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 state.

Dylan Earl was given a 17-year jail term with an additional six years on extended licence due to his “leading role”. Jake Reeves, from Croydon in south London, was sentenced to 12 years in prison with an additional year on extended licence. Their admitted crimes resulted in them being the initial persons to be found guilty under the 2023 National Security Act.

Jakeem Rose, aged 23, also from Croydon, was sentenced to a term of eight years and ten months. Nii Mensah, from Thornton Heath, south London, was given nine years imprisonment and Ugnius Asmena, who was without a fixed address, was given seven years in prison. These three individuals were each found guilty of serious fire-setting and received a additional year on supervised release by the court.

Ashton Evans, a 20-year-old drug dealer hailing from Newport, Gwent, was jailed for nine years plus a further year on extended licence after being found guilty of failing to disclose details regarding terrorist acts relating to another plot 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 of the previous year.

The court heard that Earl, 21 and the 24-year-old Reeves remained in their residences while organising the attack for the Wagner mercenary organization, acting on behalf of the Russian government.

The individuals involved targeted the storage facility because it was being used to supply emergency relief and satellite communication gear to Ukraine.

When the identical Ukrainian firm was hit by an arson attack 10 days later in Madrid, investigators from the Metropolitan Police's anti-terror unit assumed control of the investigation.

Proof and Additional Schemes

When Earl was arrested, law enforcement examination of his cellphone revealed he had recordings of the storage facility blaze being initiated and was in contact with the Wagner group on Telegram, via an user profile with the handles ‘Privet Bot account’ and ‘Lucky Strike alias’.

Some of the messages indicated that reconnaissance for further “missions”, involving arson attacks at a dining establishment and wine shop in Mayfair district owned by the Russian dissident Evgeny Chichvarkin had already been carried out. The employment of explosive devices to damage buildings was also deliberated.

Investigators found that Earl was also raising the possibility of kidnapping the dissident Chichvarkin and “exiling him back to Russia to face prison”.

The individual involved in narcotics from Elmesthorpe, Leicestershire had talked about 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 with a market value of approximately thirty-four thousand pounds.

Motivations and Judicial Remarks

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 recruit disruptors vast distances from Moscow.”

She found the fire incident had a “terrorist connection” irrespective of if the individuals responsible were aware of it. The Wagner group is proscribed by the UK government as a terrorist organisation.