Six Britons acting for the Wagner mercenary group linked to Russia have been sentenced to prison for setting fire to a London-based storage unit that was holding relief supplies intended for Ukraine.
Sentencing and Roles
While delivering the sentences, the judge at the Old Bailey remarked that they had planned a “campaign of terrorism and sabotage” in the interests of the Russian state.
Dylan Earl received a 17-year prison sentence with an extra six-year period on supervised release due to his “primary involvement”. Another defendant, Jake Reeves, from Croydon in south London, was given 12 years in prison with an additional year on supervised release. The offences they admitted resulted in them being the first individuals to be convicted under the National Security Act 2023.
Jakeem Rose, also from Croydon, was sentenced to a term of eight years and ten months. Nii Mensah, a Thornton Heath, South London local, was given nine years imprisonment and Ugnius Asmena, 21, who was without a fixed address, was handed seven years in prison. 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 drug dealer from Newport in Gwent, was sentenced to nine years imprisonment plus a further 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 deliberate fire on a Leyton-based storage facility in East London put 60 firefighters at risk and resulted in £1m in damage in March of the previous year.
The court heard that the 21-year-old Earl 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 Federation.
The group targeted the warehouse because it was being utilized for providing humanitarian aid and satellite communication gear to Ukraine.
When the same Ukrainian company was subjected to an arson attack 10 days later in Madrid, investigators from the Metropolitan Police's anti-terror unit took over the investigation.
Evidence and Further Plans
When Earl was arrested, law enforcement examination of his cellphone uncovered he had recordings of the storage facility blaze being initiated and was in contact with the Wagner organization on Telegram, via an user profile with the usernames ‘Privet Bot account’ and ‘Lucky Strike’.
Some of the communications indicated that preliminary surveillance for further “missions”, involving arson attacks at a dining establishment and wine store in Mayfair belonging to the Russian opposition figure Evgeny Chichvarkin had already been carried out. The use of explosives to harm structures was also discussed.
Detectives discovered that the defendant Earl was also considering the possibility of kidnapping the dissident Chichvarkin and “exiling him back to Russia to face prison”.
The individual involved in narcotics from Elmesthorpe in Leicestershire had discussed another potential attack in the Czech Republic.
In a search of his home, law enforcement found a flag of Russia, over twenty thousand pounds in currency and cocaine hydrochloride with a street value of approximately thirty-four thousand pounds.
Motivations and Judicial Remarks
The proceedings revealed he was a participant in multiple pro-Russian propaganda channels and was driven by “plain and severe avarice”.
“This legal matter concerns the efforts of the Russian Federation to acquire harmful worldwide sway using social media to enlist saboteurs vast distances from Moscow.”
She determined the fire incident had a “terrorist connection” irrespective of if the perpetrators were aware of it. The Wagner group is proscribed by the UK government as a terrorist group.
