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A group of six individuals from Britain acting for the Wagner mercenary group linked to Russia have been handed jail terms for setting fire to a London-based warehouse that was storing relief supplies destined for Ukraine.

Sentencing and Roles

Sentencing the men, the judge at the central criminal court remarked that they had orchestrated a “series of terrorist and sabotage acts” in the interests of the Russian government.

Dylan Earl received a seventeen-year jail term with an extra six-year period on supervised release due to his “primary involvement”. Another defendant, Jake Reeves, a resident of Croydon, South London, was sentenced to 12 years in jail with an additional year on supervised release. Their admitted crimes made them the first individuals to be found guilty under the National Security Act 2023.

Jakeem Rose, also a Croydon resident, was jailed for a term of eight years and ten months. Nii Mensah, from Thornton Heath, south London, was sentenced to nine years imprisonment and Ugnius Asmena, 21, who was homeless, was given seven years in prison. These three individuals were each found guilty of serious fire-setting and received a further year on extended licence by the court.

Ashton Evans, a 20-year-old drug dealer hailing from Newport, Gwent, was sentenced to nine years imprisonment plus a further year on supervised release after being found guilty of failing to disclose details regarding terrorist acts relating 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 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, representing the Russian government.

The group selected the warehouse because it was being utilized for providing emergency relief and StarLink satellite equipment to Ukraine.

When the same Ukrainian company was hit by an intentional fire 10 days later in Madrid, investigators from the Metropolitan Police's anti-terror unit assumed control of the probe.

Evidence and Further Plans

When Earl was arrested, police analysis of his mobile phone uncovered he had recordings of the warehouse fire being started and was in contact with the Wagner group on the Telegram messaging app, via an account with the handles ‘Privet Bot’ and ‘Lucky Strike alias’.

Some of the communications indicated that reconnaissance for additional operations, involving fire-related incidents at a dining establishment and wine shop in Mayfair district owned by the Russian dissident Evgeny Chichvarkin had already been carried out. The use of explosives to harm structures was also deliberated.

Detectives discovered that 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, Leicestershire had discussed another potential attack in the Czech Republic.

In a search of his home, law enforcement located a flag of Russia, over twenty thousand pounds in currency and cocaine hydrochloride with a market value of about £34,000.

Motivations and Judicial Remarks

The court heard he was a member of numerous channels promoting Russian propaganda and was driven by “simple and ugly greed”.

“This legal matter concerns the attempts by the Russian government to gain pernicious global influence using social media to recruit disruptors far from the Russian capital.”

She determined the arson attack had a “link to terrorism” regardless of whether the perpetrators were aware of it. The Wagner organization is proscribed by the UK government as a terrorist organisation.