🔗 Share this article

A group of six individuals from Britain working on behalf of the Wagner mercenary group linked to Russia have been handed jail terms for igniting a located in London storage unit that was storing humanitarian aid destined for Ukraine.

Court Rulings and Involvement

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

Dylan Earl was given a 17-year jail term with an additional six years on supervised release due to his “leading role”. Jake Reeves, a resident of Croydon, South London, was given twelve years in jail with an additional year on supervised release. The offences they admitted made them the first individuals to be convicted under the National Security Act 2023.

Jakeem Rose, also from Croydon, was sentenced to eight years and 10 months. Nii Mensah, 23, from Thornton Heath, south London, was sentenced to nine years and Ugnius Asmena, who was without a fixed address, was handed seven years in prison. These three individuals were each convicted of serious fire-setting and received a additional year on supervised release by the court.

Ashton Evans drug dealer from Newport in Gwent, was jailed for nine years imprisonment plus a further year on extended licence after being found guilty of withholding details regarding acts of terrorism connected to another plot 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 resulted in £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, representing the Russian government.

The group selected the warehouse because it was being used to supply emergency relief and satellite communication gear to Ukraine.

When the identical Ukrainian firm was hit by an intentional fire ten days afterward in Madrid, investigators from the Metropolitan Police's anti-terror unit took over the probe.

Evidence and Further Plans

When Earl was arrested, law enforcement examination of his mobile phone revealed he had recordings of the warehouse fire being started and was in communication with the Wagner group on Telegram, via an user profile with the usernames ‘Privet Bot’ and ‘Lucky Strike alias’.

Some of the messages showed that reconnaissance for additional operations, involving arson attacks at a restaurant and wine store in Mayfair belonging to the Russian dissident Evgeny Chichvarkin had already taken place. The use of explosives to harm structures was also deliberated.

Investigators found that Earl was also considering the possibility of kidnapping the dissident Chichvarkin and “exiling him back to Russia to face prison”.

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

In a search of his home, police found a Russian flag, more than £20,000 in cash and cocaine hydrochloride with a market value of approximately thirty-four thousand pounds.

Driving Factors and Court Comments

The proceedings revealed he was a member of 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 social media to recruit disruptors vast distances from Moscow.”

She found the arson attack had a “terrorist connection” irrespective of if the individuals responsible were aware of it. The Wagner group is banned by the British authorities as a terrorist group.