Six Britons acting for Russia’s Wagner group have been sentenced to prison for igniting a London-based storage unit that was storing humanitarian aid intended for Ukraine.
Sentencing and Roles
Sentencing the men, the judge at the central criminal court remarked that they had orchestrated a “series of terrorist and sabotage acts” in the interests of the Russian government.
Dylan Earl received a 17-year prison sentence with an extra six-year period on extended licence due to his “primary involvement”. Jake Reeves, a resident of Croydon, South London, was given 12 years in prison with an additional year on supervised release. Their admitted crimes made them the initial persons 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, 23, from Thornton Heath, south London, was given nine years imprisonment and Ugnius Asmena, who was without a fixed address, was given seven years. The trio were each convicted of aggravated arson and given a additional year on extended licence by the court.
Ashton Evans individual involved in drug trafficking from Newport in Gwent, was sentenced to nine years imprisonment plus a further year on supervised release after being convicted of withholding information about acts of terrorism relating to a separate scheme in the Mayfair area.
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 last year.
The court heard that Earl, 21 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 storage facility because it was being used to supply humanitarian aid and satellite communication gear to Ukraine.
When the identical Ukrainian firm was hit by an intentional fire ten days afterward in the Spanish capital, detectives from the Met’s counter-terrorism command assumed control of the probe.
Evidence and Further Plans
When Earl was taken into custody, law enforcement examination of his mobile phone revealed he had recordings of the warehouse fire being initiated and was in communication with the Wagner organization on the Telegram messaging app, via an account with the handles ‘Privet Bot’ and ‘Lucky Strike alias’.
Some of the communications showed that reconnaissance for additional operations, involving arson attacks at a restaurant and wine store in Mayfair district owned by the Russian opposition figure Evgeny Chichvarkin had already taken place. The employment of explosive devices to harm structures was also deliberated.
Detectives found that Earl was also raising the possibility of kidnapping Chichvarkin and “sending him back to Russia to confront imprisonment”.
The individual involved in narcotics from Elmesthorpe in Leicestershire had discussed another potential attack in the Czech Republic.
In a residence inspection, police found a flag of Russia, over twenty thousand pounds in currency and cocaine with a market value of about £34,000.
Motivations and Judicial Remarks
The court heard he was a member of multiple pro-Russian propaganda channels and was driven by “simple and ugly greed”.
“This legal matter concerns the attempts by the Russian government to acquire harmful worldwide sway using social media to recruit disruptors far from the Russian capital.”
She determined the fire incident had a “link to terrorism” irrespective of if the perpetrators knew it. The Wagner group is proscribed by the British authorities as a terrorist group.
