A group of six individuals from Britain acting for Russia’s Wagner group have been sentenced to prison for setting fire to a London-based storage unit that was holding humanitarian aid destined for Ukraine.
Court Rulings and Involvement
While delivering the sentences, the judge at the Old Bailey stated that they had orchestrated a “series of terrorist and sabotage acts” in the interests of the Russian government.
Dylan Earl received a 17-year prison sentence with an extra six-year period on supervised release due to his “primary involvement”. Jake Reeves, a resident of Croydon, South London, was given twelve years in prison with an additional year on supervised release. Their admitted crimes resulted in them being the first individuals to be found guilty under the National Security Act 2023.
Jakeem Rose, aged 23, also from Croydon, was sentenced to 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 without a fixed address, was given seven years. These three individuals were each convicted of serious fire-setting and received a further year on supervised release by the court.
Ashton Evans, a 20-year-old individual involved in drug trafficking hailing from Newport, Gwent, was jailed for nine years imprisonment with an extra year on supervised release after being convicted of failing to disclose details regarding terrorist acts relating to a separate scheme in the Mayfair area.
Details of the Attack
The deliberate fire on a warehouse in Leyton, east London put 60 firefighters at risk and caused one million pounds worth of destruction in March last year.
The proceedings revealed that the 21-year-old Earl and the 24-year-old Reeves did not leave their bedrooms 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 used to supply humanitarian aid and satellite communication gear to Ukraine.
When the same Ukrainian company was hit by an arson attack 10 days later in Madrid, detectives from the Met’s counter-terrorism command took over the investigation.
Evidence and Further Plans
When Earl was taken into custody, law enforcement examination of his cellphone revealed he had videos of the storage facility blaze being initiated and was in communication with the Wagner group on Telegram, via an account with the usernames ‘Privet Bot’ and ‘Lucky Strike’.
Some of the messages indicated that preliminary surveillance for further “missions”, involving fire-related incidents at a dining establishment and wine store in Mayfair belonging to the Russian dissident Evgeny Chichvarkin had already taken place. The use of explosives to harm structures was also discussed.
Detectives discovered that Earl was also considering the potential abduction of the dissident Chichvarkin and “exiling him back to Russia to confront imprisonment”.
The drug dealer from Elmesthorpe in Leicestershire had discussed an additional planned incident in the Czech nation.
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 about £34,000.
Motivations and Judicial Remarks
The court heard he was a participant in multiple pro-Russian propaganda channels and was motivated by “plain and severe avarice”.
“This legal matter concerns the attempts by the Russian government to gain pernicious global influence using social media to recruit disruptors far from the Russian capital.”
She found the arson attack had a “link to terrorism” irrespective of if the perpetrators were aware of it. The Wagner group is banned by the UK government as a terrorist group.
