Скачать или смотреть Jail for arson attack gang linked to Russia's Wagner Group

A gang involved in a Russian mercenary group-ordered arson attack on a London warehouse providing aid to Ukraine were jailed.

The attack was carried out at the behest of the Wagner Group - a private military organisation that acts on behalf of the Russian state - and caused around £1m of damage.

Dylan Earl, along with Jake Reeves and four others, were sentenced for espionage, terrorism offences and arson at the Old Bailey for their involvement.

Earl, 21, admitted planning the arson attack on industrial units in Leyton, east London, while working under the instruction of the Wagner group, proscribed as a terror group in the UK.

He was jailed for a total of 23 years, of which 17 will be spent in prison and six on extended licence. Reeves was sentenced to 12 years, with a further year on licence.

Earl, from Elmesthorpe, Leicestershire, and Reeves, 24, from Croydon, south London, targeted the site because it was being used to supply humanitarian aid and StarLink satellite equipment to Ukraine.

He recruited Reeves to help him plot the arson attack. Reeves then recruited his friend Nii Kojo Mensah to carry out the attack.

Mensah recruited his friend Jakeem Rose, while another person, Ugnius Asmena, was also recruited to take part.

It took eight fire crews, with 60 firefighters, to get the fire under control.

The gang had plotted further arson attacks on a restaurant and wine shop in Mayfair, central London and planned the attempted kidnapping of the owner, a wealthy Russian dissident, Evgeny Chichvarkin.

The arson attack was part of a "planned campaign of terrorism and sabotage" in the interests of the Russian state, Mrs Justice Cheema-Grubb said in her sentencing remarks at the Old Bailey.

"This case is about the efforts of the Russian Federation to gain pernicious global influence using social media to enlist saboteurs vast distances from Moscow," she added.

The judge said the arson attack was not an isolated incident, as a warehouse in Spain was hit 10 days later, and Earl has discussed another potential attack in the Czech Republic.

She concluded that the attack had a "terrorist connection", regardless of whether the perpetrators were aware of that or not.

Earl, who orchestrated the arson attack from his bedroom, told a Wagner Group operative he met on Telegram that he was keen to carry out a series of "missions", starting with the Leyton fire.

Mensah, 23, from Thornton Heath, Rose, 23, of Croydon, and Asmena, 21, of no fixed address, were convicted of aggravated arson.

Mensah was jailed for 10 years, Rose was jailed for nine years, and Asmena was jailed for eight years and ten months. They were each handed a further year on extended licence by the judge.

Ashton Evans, who helped Earl supply drugs, was also charged as part of the investigation, as social media messages allegedly showed he was both aware of the arson attack and the planned offences in Mayfair.

Evans, of Newport, was found not guilty of the first count - relating to the Leyton arson - but guilty of the second count related to the plot to damage businesses in Mayfair.

The 20-year-old was jailed for nine years, with a further year on licence.

Earl pleaded guilty to preparatory conduct, contrary to section 18 of the National Security Act (NSA) 2023, aggravated arson, possession with intent to supply Class A drugs and possession of criminal property.

Reeves pleaded guilty to agreeing to accept a material benefit from a foreign intelligence service, contrary to section 17(2) and (11), NSA 2023, and aggravated arson.

Earl and Reeves are the first people to be convicted of offences under the National Security Act, which came into legislation at the end of 2023.

The judge's sentencing remarks can be read in full at: https://www.judiciary.uk/judgments/re...

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