🔗 Share this article

A group of six individuals from Britain acting for the Wagner mercenary group linked to Russia have been sentenced to prison for setting fire to a located in London storage unit that was holding humanitarian aid intended for Ukraine.

Court Rulings and Involvement

While delivering the sentences, the judge at the central criminal court remarked that they had planned a “series of terrorist and sabotage acts” to benefit the Russian state.

The individual named Dylan Earl received a seventeen-year jail term with an extra six-year period on extended licence due to his “leading role”. Another defendant, Jake Reeves, from Croydon in south London, was given 12 years in jail with one year on supervised release. The offences they admitted made them the first individuals to be convicted under the 2023 National Security Act.

Jakeem Rose, also from Croydon, was sentenced to a term of eight years and ten months. Nii Mensah, 23, a Thornton Heath, South London local, was given nine years imprisonment and Ugnius Asmena, who was homeless, was handed seven years. These three individuals were each convicted of serious fire-setting and received a further year on extended licence by the judge.

Ashton Evans individual involved in drug trafficking from Newport in Gwent, was sentenced to nine years with an extra year on supervised release after being found guilty of failing to disclose details regarding acts of terrorism relating to another plot in the Mayfair area.

Details of the Attack

The arson attack on a Leyton-based storage facility in East London endangered sixty fire service personnel and resulted in one million pounds worth of destruction in March last year.

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

The group targeted the storage facility because it was being used to supply humanitarian aid and satellite communication gear to Ukraine.

When the same Ukrainian company was subjected to an intentional fire 10 days later in the Spanish capital, investigators from the Metropolitan Police's anti-terror unit took over the investigation.

Evidence and Further Plans

When Earl was taken into custody, police analysis of his mobile phone uncovered he had videos of the storage facility blaze being initiated and was in contact with the Wagner group on Telegram, via an user profile with the usernames ‘Privet Bot account’ and ‘Lucky Strike’.

Some of the messages showed that reconnaissance for further “missions”, involving fire-related incidents at a restaurant and wine store in Mayfair owned by the Russian opposition figure Evgeny Chichvarkin had already taken place. The use of explosives to damage buildings was also discussed.

Investigators discovered that the defendant Earl was also considering the possibility of kidnapping Chichvarkin and “sending him back to Russia to face prison”.

The individual involved in narcotics from Elmesthorpe in Leicestershire had talked about another potential attack in the Czech nation.

In a search of his home, law enforcement found a Russian flag, more than £20,000 in cash and cocaine with a street value of about £34,000.

Driving Factors and Court Comments

The court heard he was a member of 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 online platforms to enlist saboteurs far from the Russian capital.”

She found the arson attack had a “terrorist connection” regardless of whether the perpetrators knew it. The Wagner organization is proscribed by the UK government as a terrorist group.