🔗 Share this article

A group of six individuals from Britain working on behalf of the Wagner mercenary group linked to Russia have been handed jail terms for igniting a London-based warehouse that was storing relief supplies intended for Ukraine.

Court Rulings and Involvement

While delivering the sentences, the judge at the Old Bailey stated that they had planned a “series of terrorist and sabotage acts” in the interests of the Russian state.

The individual named Dylan Earl received a 17-year jail term with an extra six-year period on extended licence due to his “leading role”. Another defendant, Jake Reeves, a resident of Croydon, South London, was sentenced to twelve years in prison with an additional year on extended licence. The offences they admitted made them the first individuals to be found guilty under the 2023 National Security Act.

Jakeem Rose, aged 23, also a Croydon resident, was jailed for eight years and 10 months. Nii Mensah, from Thornton Heath, south London, was given nine years and Ugnius Asmena, who was without a fixed address, was handed seven years in prison. These three individuals were each found guilty of serious fire-setting and received a further year on supervised release by the judge.

Ashton Evans, a 20-year-old drug dealer hailing from Newport, Gwent, was jailed for nine years imprisonment plus a further year on supervised release after being convicted of failing to disclose details regarding acts of terrorism relating to another plot in the Mayfair area.

Incident Specifics

The deliberate fire on a warehouse in Leyton, east London put 60 firefighters at risk and caused £1m in damage in March last year.

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

The group targeted the warehouse because it was being utilized for providing humanitarian aid and satellite communication gear to Ukraine.

When the identical Ukrainian firm was hit by an intentional fire ten days afterward in Madrid, investigators from the Metropolitan Police's anti-terror unit took over the probe.

Evidence and Further Plans

When Earl was taken into custody, police analysis of his cellphone revealed he had recordings of the storage facility blaze being started and was in communication with the Wagner group on Telegram, via an account with the handles ‘Privet Bot account’ and ‘Lucky Strike alias’.

Some of the messages indicated that reconnaissance for additional operations, involving fire-related incidents at a dining establishment and wine store in Mayfair district owned by the Russian dissident Evgeny Chichvarkin had already been carried out. The use of explosives to damage buildings was also deliberated.

Investigators discovered that Earl was also raising the potential abduction of Chichvarkin and “sending him back to Russia to confront imprisonment”.

The individual involved in narcotics from Elmesthorpe in Leicestershire had talked about another potential attack in the Czech Republic.

In a residence inspection, police located a flag of Russia, more than £20,000 in cash and cocaine 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 motivated by “simple and ugly greed”.

“This legal matter concerns 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 individuals responsible were aware of it. The Wagner group is banned by the British authorities as a terrorist group.