🔗 Share this article

Six Britons working on behalf of Russia’s Wagner group have been handed jail terms for setting fire to a London-based warehouse that was holding relief supplies intended for Ukraine.

Court Rulings and Involvement

Sentencing the men, the presiding judge at the Old Bailey remarked that they had planned a “series of terrorist and sabotage acts” to benefit the Russian state.

The individual named Dylan Earl received a 17-year prison sentence with an additional six years on extended licence due to his “primary involvement”. Another defendant, Jake Reeves, a resident of Croydon, South London, was sentenced to twelve years in prison with an additional year on supervised release. Their admitted crimes resulted in them being the first individuals to be found guilty under the National Security Act 2023.

Jakeem Rose, aged 23, also a Croydon resident, was sentenced to a term of eight years and ten months. Nii Mensah, a Thornton Heath, South London local, was sentenced to nine years imprisonment and Ugnius Asmena, who was without a fixed address, was handed seven years. The trio were each convicted of serious fire-setting 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 plus a further year on extended licence after being convicted of failing to disclose details regarding terrorist acts connected to a separate scheme in the Mayfair area.

Incident Specifics

The deliberate fire on a warehouse in Leyton, east London put 60 firefighters at risk and caused one million pounds worth of destruction in March last year.

The proceedings revealed that the 21-year-old Earl and Reeves, 24 remained in their residences while coordinating the incident for the Wagner mercenary organization, acting on behalf of the Russian Federation.

The individuals involved selected the warehouse because it was being utilized for providing humanitarian aid and StarLink satellite equipment to Ukraine.

When the same Ukrainian company was subjected to an intentional fire ten days afterward in the Spanish capital, detectives from the Met’s counter-terrorism command assumed control of the investigation.

Proof and Additional Schemes

When Earl was arrested, law enforcement examination of his cellphone uncovered he had recordings of the warehouse fire being started and was in contact with the Wagner group on Telegram, via an account with the handles ‘Privet Bot’ and ‘Lucky Strike alias’.

Some of the communications showed that preliminary surveillance for additional operations, involving fire-related incidents at a restaurant and wine store in Mayfair district belonging to the Russian opposition figure Evgeny Chichvarkin had already been carried out. The employment of explosive devices to damage buildings was also deliberated.

Investigators discovered that Earl was also considering the potential abduction of the dissident Chichvarkin and “sending him back to Russia to confront imprisonment”.

The drug dealer from Elmesthorpe in Leicestershire had talked about another potential attack in the Czech Republic.

In a search of his home, police found a flag of Russia, more than £20,000 in cash and cocaine hydrochloride with a street 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 motivated by “simple and ugly greed”.

“This case is about the attempts by the Russian government to acquire harmful worldwide sway using online platforms to enlist saboteurs vast distances from Moscow.”

She determined the arson attack had a “terrorist connection” regardless of whether the perpetrators were aware of it. The Wagner group is banned by the UK government as a terrorist organisation.