Six Britons acting for Russia’s Wagner group have been sentenced to prison for igniting a London-based storage unit that was holding relief supplies intended 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 state.
Dylan Earl received a 17-year jail term with an additional six years on supervised release due to his “primary involvement”. Jake Reeves, a resident of Croydon, South London, was sentenced to 12 years in prison with an additional year on extended licence. Their admitted crimes resulted in them being the first individuals to be found guilty under the 2023 National Security Act.
Jakeem Rose, aged 23, also from Croydon, was sentenced to eight years and 10 months. Nii Mensah, 23, from Thornton Heath, south London, was sentenced to nine years imprisonment and Ugnius Asmena, 21, who was homeless, was given seven years in prison. These three individuals were each found guilty of serious fire-setting and given a additional year on supervised release by the judge.
Ashton Evans drug dealer hailing from Newport, Gwent, was sentenced to nine years with an extra year on extended licence after being convicted of failing to disclose details regarding terrorist acts relating to a separate scheme in Mayfair.
Incident Specifics
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 Reeves, 24 did not leave their bedrooms while coordinating the incident for the Wagner mercenary organization, acting on behalf of the Russian government.
The individuals involved selected the storage facility because it was being used to supply humanitarian aid and satellite communication gear to Ukraine.
When the same Ukrainian company 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, law enforcement examination of his mobile phone uncovered he had recordings of the storage facility blaze being started and was in communication with the Wagner organization on the Telegram messaging app, via an user profile with the handles ‘Privet Bot’ and ‘Lucky Strike alias’.
Some of the messages showed that preliminary surveillance for further “missions”, involving arson attacks at a restaurant and wine shop in Mayfair owned by the Russian dissident Evgeny Chichvarkin had already taken place. The use of explosives to damage buildings was also discussed.
Investigators found that Earl was also considering the possibility of kidnapping Chichvarkin and “sending him back to Russia to confront imprisonment”.
The drug dealer from Elmesthorpe, Leicestershire had talked about another potential attack in the Czech nation.
In a residence inspection, police located a flag of Russia, over twenty thousand pounds in currency and cocaine with a street value of approximately thirty-four thousand pounds.
Motivations and Judicial Remarks
The proceedings revealed he was a member of numerous channels promoting Russian propaganda and was motivated by “simple and ugly greed”.
“This legal matter concerns the efforts of the Russian Federation to gain pernicious global influence using social media to recruit disruptors vast distances from Moscow.”
She determined the arson attack had a “terrorist connection” irrespective of if the individuals responsible were aware of it. The Wagner group is proscribed by the UK government as a terrorist organisation.
