🔗 Share this article

Six Britons working on behalf of the Wagner mercenary group linked to Russia have been handed jail terms for setting fire to a London-based warehouse that was storing humanitarian aid intended for Ukraine.

Sentencing and Roles

While delivering the sentences, the presiding 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 received a seventeen-year prison sentence with an additional six years on extended licence due to his “primary involvement”. Another defendant, Jake Reeves, from Croydon in south London, was given 12 years in prison with one year on extended licence. Their admitted crimes resulted in them being the first individuals to be convicted under the 2023 National Security Act.

Jakeem Rose, also a Croydon resident, was jailed for eight years and 10 months. Nii Mensah, from Thornton Heath, south London, was given nine years imprisonment and Ugnius Asmena, 21, who was without a fixed address, was handed seven years. The trio were each found guilty of serious fire-setting and received a additional year on extended licence by the judge.

Ashton Evans, a 20-year-old drug dealer hailing from Newport, Gwent, was jailed for nine years with an extra year on supervised release after being found guilty of failing to disclose details regarding acts of terrorism relating to a separate scheme in Mayfair.

Incident Specifics

The arson attack on a warehouse in Leyton, east London put 60 firefighters at risk and resulted in one million pounds worth of destruction in March of the previous year.

The proceedings revealed 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 Federation.

The group targeted the warehouse because it was being used to supply emergency relief and StarLink satellite equipment 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 took over the probe.

Evidence and Further Plans

When Earl was arrested, law enforcement examination of his cellphone uncovered he had recordings of the warehouse fire being initiated and was in contact with the Wagner group on the Telegram messaging app, via an account with the usernames ‘Privet Bot’ and ‘Lucky Strike alias’.

Some of the communications indicated that preliminary surveillance for additional operations, involving fire-related incidents at a restaurant and wine shop in Mayfair district belonging to the Russian opposition figure Evgeny Chichvarkin had already taken place. The use of explosives to harm structures was also deliberated.

Detectives discovered that the defendant 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 talked about an additional planned incident in the Czech nation.

In a residence inspection, law enforcement found a flag of Russia, over twenty thousand pounds in currency and cocaine with a market value of about £34,000.

Driving Factors and Court Comments

The court heard he was a member of numerous channels promoting Russian propaganda and was driven by “simple and ugly greed”.

“This case is about the attempts by the Russian government to gain pernicious global influence using online platforms to recruit disruptors vast distances from Moscow.”

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