A group of six individuals from Britain acting for Russia’s Wagner group have been sentenced to prison for setting fire to a located in London warehouse that was storing relief supplies intended for Ukraine.
Sentencing and Roles
Sentencing the men, the 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 prison sentence with an additional six years on supervised release due to his “primary involvement”. 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 first individuals to be found guilty under the 2023 National Security Act.
Jakeem Rose, aged 23, also from Croydon, was jailed for eight years and 10 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 in prison. The trio were each found guilty of serious fire-setting and given a additional year on supervised release by the judge.
Ashton Evans, a 20-year-old individual involved in drug trafficking hailing from Newport, Gwent, was jailed for nine years with an extra year on supervised release after being found guilty of withholding details regarding terrorist acts connected 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 resulted in £1m in damage in March last year.
The proceedings revealed that Earl, 21 and the 24-year-old Reeves did not leave their bedrooms while coordinating the incident for the Wagner group, acting on behalf of the Russian government.
The group targeted the warehouse because it was being used to supply humanitarian aid and satellite communication gear to Ukraine.
When the identical Ukrainian firm was hit by an arson attack 10 days later in Madrid, detectives from the Met’s counter-terrorism command assumed control of the investigation.
Evidence and Further Plans
When Earl was taken into custody, police analysis of his cellphone uncovered he had recordings of the storage facility blaze being started and was in contact with the Wagner group on Telegram, via an account with the usernames ‘Privet Bot account’ and ‘Lucky Strike alias’.
Some of the communications indicated that reconnaissance for further “missions”, involving fire-related incidents at a dining establishment and wine store in Mayfair district owned by the Russian opposition figure Evgeny Chichvarkin had already taken place. The use of explosives to harm structures was also discussed.
Detectives discovered that Earl was also raising the possibility of kidnapping the dissident Chichvarkin and “exiling him back to Russia to confront imprisonment”.
The drug dealer from Elmesthorpe in Leicestershire had discussed another potential attack in the Czech Republic.
In a search of his home, law enforcement located a Russian flag, more than £20,000 in cash and cocaine with a market value of about £34,000.
Motivations and Judicial Remarks
The proceedings revealed he was a participant in multiple pro-Russian propaganda channels and was motivated by “simple and ugly greed”.
“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 “terrorist connection” regardless of whether the perpetrators knew it. The Wagner organization is proscribed by the British authorities as a terrorist organisation.
