🔗 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 London-based warehouse that was storing humanitarian aid destined for Ukraine.

Sentencing and Roles

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

Dylan Earl received a 17-year jail term with an extra six-year period on extended licence due to his “primary involvement”. Jake Reeves, from Croydon in south London, was sentenced to twelve years in prison with an additional year on extended licence. Their admitted crimes resulted in them being the initial persons to be convicted under the National Security Act 2023.

Jakeem Rose, aged 23, also from Croydon, was jailed for 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. These three individuals were each convicted of aggravated arson and given a further year on extended licence by the judge.

Ashton Evans, a 20-year-old drug dealer hailing from Newport, Gwent, was jailed for nine years with an extra year on supervised release after being convicted of failing to disclose details regarding acts of terrorism relating to a separate scheme in Mayfair.

Incident Specifics

The arson attack on a warehouse in Leyton, east London endangered sixty fire service personnel and caused one million pounds worth of destruction in March last year.

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

The group targeted 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 arson attack 10 days later in the Spanish capital, investigators from the Metropolitan Police's anti-terror unit took over the investigation.

Proof and Additional Schemes

When Earl was taken into custody, law enforcement examination of his mobile phone uncovered he had recordings of the warehouse fire being initiated and was in contact with the Wagner group on the Telegram messaging app, via an user profile with the usernames ‘Privet Bot account’ and ‘Lucky Strike’.

Some of the communications showed that preliminary surveillance for further “missions”, involving fire-related incidents at a dining establishment and wine store in Mayfair belonging to the Russian opposition figure Evgeny Chichvarkin had already taken place. The use of explosives to damage buildings was also discussed.

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

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

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

Motivations and Judicial Remarks

The proceedings revealed he was a member of multiple pro-Russian propaganda channels and was driven by “plain and severe avarice”.

“This legal matter concerns the attempts by the Russian government to acquire harmful worldwide sway using social media to recruit disruptors far from the Russian capital.”

She determined the fire incident had a “terrorist connection” regardless of whether the perpetrators were aware of it. The Wagner group is proscribed by the UK government as a terrorist group.