Six Britons acting for Russia’s Wagner group have been sentenced to prison for igniting a located in London storage unit that was holding relief supplies destined for Ukraine.
Sentencing and Roles
Sentencing the men, the judge at the central criminal court remarked that they had planned a “series of terrorist and sabotage acts” to benefit the Russian government.
Dylan Earl was given a 17-year prison sentence 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 12 years in jail with an additional year on supervised release. Their admitted crimes made them the initial persons to be convicted under the National Security Act 2023.
Jakeem Rose, also a Croydon resident, was sentenced to eight years and 10 months. Nii Mensah, 23, a Thornton Heath, South London local, was sentenced to nine years imprisonment and Ugnius Asmena, 21, who was without a fixed address, was given seven years. The trio were each found guilty of aggravated arson and given a further year on supervised release by the judge.
Ashton Evans, a 20-year-old drug dealer from Newport in Gwent, was jailed for nine years imprisonment with an extra year on supervised release after being convicted of failing to disclose details regarding terrorist acts relating to a separate scheme in the Mayfair area.
Incident Specifics
The arson attack on a Leyton-based storage facility in East London put 60 firefighters at risk and resulted in £1m in damage in March last year.
The proceedings revealed that Earl, 21 and Reeves, 24 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 emergency relief and StarLink satellite equipment to Ukraine.
When the identical Ukrainian firm was hit by an arson attack ten days afterward in the Spanish capital, detectives from the Met’s counter-terrorism command assumed control of the probe.
Proof and Additional Schemes
When Earl was arrested, police analysis of his mobile phone uncovered he had videos of the storage facility blaze being initiated and was in communication with the Wagner organization on the Telegram messaging app, via an user profile with the handles ‘Privet Bot account’ and ‘Lucky Strike’.
Some of the messages showed that reconnaissance for further “missions”, involving arson attacks at a restaurant and wine shop in Mayfair owned by the Russian opposition figure Evgeny Chichvarkin had already been carried out. The employment of explosive devices to damage buildings was also discussed.
Investigators found that Earl was also considering the potential abduction of Chichvarkin and “exiling him back to Russia to face prison”.
The individual involved in narcotics from Elmesthorpe, Leicestershire had discussed an additional planned incident in the Czech Republic.
In a search of his home, law enforcement located a Russian flag, more than £20,000 in cash and cocaine hydrochloride with a market value of about £34,000.
Driving Factors and Court Comments
The proceedings revealed he was a participant in numerous pro-Russian propaganda channels and was driven by “plain and severe avarice”.
“This case is about the efforts of the Russian Federation to gain pernicious global influence using online platforms to recruit disruptors vast distances from Moscow.”
She determined the fire incident had a “link to terrorism” irrespective of if the individuals responsible were aware of it. The Wagner group is banned by the British authorities as a terrorist group.
