🔗 Share this article

A group of six individuals from Britain acting for the Wagner mercenary group linked to Russia have been handed jail terms for setting fire to a London-based warehouse that was holding relief supplies destined 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 government.

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”. Jake Reeves, from Croydon in south London, was given 12 years in prison with one year on supervised release. The offences they admitted resulted in them being the initial persons to be convicted 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, a Thornton Heath, South London local, was sentenced to nine years and Ugnius Asmena, who was without a fixed address, was handed seven years. The trio were each found guilty of serious fire-setting and given 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 plus a further year on extended licence after being found guilty of failing to disclose details regarding acts of terrorism connected to a separate scheme in Mayfair.

Details of the Attack

The arson attack on a Leyton-based storage facility in East London put 60 firefighters at risk and caused £1m in damage in March of the previous year.

The court heard that Earl, 21 and the 24-year-old Reeves did not leave their bedrooms while organising the attack for the Wagner group, representing the Russian Federation.

The individuals involved selected the storage facility because it was being used to supply humanitarian aid and StarLink satellite equipment to Ukraine.

When the same Ukrainian company was hit by an intentional fire ten days afterward in the Spanish capital, investigators from the Metropolitan Police's anti-terror unit assumed control of the probe.

Evidence and Further Plans

When Earl was taken into custody, police analysis of his cellphone uncovered he had videos of the warehouse fire being started and was in contact with the Wagner organization on the Telegram messaging app, via an user profile with the handles ‘Privet Bot account’ and ‘Lucky Strike alias’.

Some of the messages showed that preliminary surveillance for additional operations, involving fire-related incidents at a restaurant 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 Chichvarkin and “exiling him back to Russia to face prison”.

The drug dealer from Elmesthorpe, Leicestershire had talked about another potential attack in the Czech nation.

In a search of his home, police located a Russian flag, over twenty thousand pounds in currency and cocaine with a market value of about £34,000.

Motivations and Judicial Remarks

The proceedings revealed he was a participant in numerous pro-Russian propaganda channels and was motivated by “simple and ugly greed”.

“This case is about the attempts by the Russian government to acquire harmful worldwide sway using online platforms to enlist saboteurs far from the Russian capital.”

She found the arson attack had a “link to terrorism” irrespective of if the perpetrators knew it. The Wagner organization is banned by the UK government as a terrorist group.