🔗 Share this article

Six Britons working on behalf of the Wagner mercenary group linked to Russia have been sentenced to prison for igniting a located in London storage unit that was storing humanitarian aid destined for Ukraine.

Sentencing and Roles

Sentencing the men, the presiding judge at the Old Bailey remarked that they had planned a “campaign of terrorism and sabotage” in the interests of the Russian state.

Dylan Earl received a 17-year prison sentence with an extra six-year period on extended licence due to his “leading role”. Another defendant, Jake Reeves, a resident of Croydon, South London, was sentenced to twelve years in jail with an additional year on extended licence. Their admitted crimes made them the initial persons to be convicted under the 2023 National Security Act.

Jakeem Rose, also a Croydon resident, was jailed for eight years and 10 months. Nii Mensah, from Thornton Heath, south London, was sentenced to nine years and Ugnius Asmena, 21, who was homeless, was given seven years in prison. The trio were each found guilty of serious fire-setting and received a additional year on extended licence by the judge.

Ashton Evans, a 20-year-old individual involved in drug trafficking hailing from Newport, Gwent, was sentenced to nine years imprisonment with an extra year on extended licence after being found guilty of withholding details regarding terrorist acts connected to another plot in Mayfair.

Details of the Attack

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

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

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

When the identical Ukrainian firm was subjected to an intentional fire 10 days later in the Spanish capital, investigators from the Metropolitan Police's anti-terror unit assumed control of the investigation.

Evidence and Further Plans

When Earl was arrested, law enforcement examination of his cellphone uncovered he had videos of the storage facility blaze being initiated and was in communication with the Wagner group on Telegram, via an account with the usernames ‘Privet Bot account’ and ‘Lucky Strike’.

Some of the messages showed that preliminary surveillance for further “missions”, involving arson attacks at a restaurant and wine store in Mayfair belonging to the Russian dissident Evgeny Chichvarkin had already been carried out. The employment of explosive devices to harm structures was also discussed.

Detectives discovered that the defendant Earl was also raising the potential abduction of the dissident Chichvarkin and “sending him back to Russia to face prison”.

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

In a residence inspection, law enforcement located a Russian flag, over twenty thousand pounds in currency and cocaine hydrochloride with a street value of about £34,000.

Driving Factors and Court Comments

The court heard he was a participant in multiple channels promoting Russian propaganda and was motivated by “plain and severe avarice”.

“This case is about the attempts by the Russian government to gain pernicious global influence using online platforms to enlist saboteurs far from the Russian capital.”

She found the fire incident had a “terrorist connection” regardless of whether the perpetrators were aware of it. The Wagner group is proscribed by the British authorities as a terrorist organisation.