A British terror plotter who orchestrated an arson attack on a warehouse providing aid to Ukraine was described as "easy meat" for sophisticated Wagner Group operatives during his sentencing hearing. Dylan Earl, 21, from Elmesthorpe, Leicestershire, admitted planning the attack on industrial units in Leyton, east London, on March 20 last year.
The blaze required eight fire crews and 60 firefighters to bring under control, causing approximately £1 million in damage. Earl was working under instruction from the proscribed Wagner Group, with the warehouse targeted because it was supplying humanitarian aid and StarLink satellite equipment to Ukraine.
Defense mitigation arguments
Earl's barrister Paul Hynes KC told the Old Bailey his client was "easy meat for the very sophisticated operatives of the Wagner Group acting as proxies for the Russian Federation". He described Earl as an "easy puppet in the hands of others" who sought "praise, importance and significance" and saw the world through the "prism of online gaming".
Hynes said Earl was a "sad individual" who spent lengthy periods alone in his bedroom at his parents' house, leading a "minimalistic existence taking drugs and gaming online". The barrister argued Earl was mainly motivated by money rather than ideology, with no evidence of an "underlying ideology" associated with "orthodox terrorism".
Co-defendant's ketamine use
Mitigating for co-defendant Jake Reeves, 24, from Croydon, Henry Blaxland KC highlighted the dangers of ketamine use. He said Reeves was "taking extensive quantities of ketamine" which "distorted his judgment" and disputed the prosecution's assertion that the offence had a terrorist connection.
Blaxland said Reeves "got caught up in this insidious online world and never went further than his bedroom". The case revealed "the extent to which the Russian state and agents of the Russian state have managed to penetrate the UK through taking advantage of adolescents buried in their computers".
Multiple terror plots
Earl and Reeves also plotted arson attacks on Hide Restaurant and Hedonism Wines in Mayfair, plus the kidnap of their owner, wealthy Russian dissident Evgeny Chichvarkin. The two businesses collectively employed 200 people and were valued at more than £30 million, with Hide housing a 24-hour bakery and 14 flats above.
Earl told a Wagner Group operative on Telegram he was keen to carry out a series of "missions", with the contact instructing him to watch The Americans TV drama and use it as a "manual" for his covert mission. The Cold War series features two KGB agents posing as Americans in Washington DC.
Co-defendants and evidence
Five other young men appeared alongside Earl for sentencing. Jakeem Rose, 23, from Croydon, and Nii Mensah, 23, from Thornton Heath, were found guilty of aggravated arson with intent to endanger life, while Ugnius Asmena, 21, of no fixed address, acted as a fixer.
Ashton Evans, 20, from Newport, Gwent, was found guilty of failing to disclose information about terrorist acts relating to the Mayfair plot. Alan Kent KC, mitigating for Mensah, described it as "an offence committed by amateurs, road men, done to a very poor standard".
Earl was arrested in a B&Q car park in Hinckley, Leicestershire, with videos of the warehouse fire found on his iPhone. Police recovered a Russian flag, more than £20,000 in cash and cocaine with a street value of £34,000 from his home, plus evidence of cryptocurrency accounts and cash bundles estimated to total £175,000.
Mrs Justice Cheema-Grubb is expected to hand down sentences on Friday. Earl and Reeves became the first people convicted under the National Security Act 2023.
Sources used: "PA Media" Note: This article has been created with Artificial Intelligence (AI).
