Majority direction for jury in Wagner Group arson trial

Jurors have been given a majority direction in the trial of a group of men accused of setting fire to a warehouse linked with Ukraine for the proscribed Wagner Group.

Around £1 million of damage was caused in an arson attack on an industrial unit in Leyton, east London, last March 20, the Old Bailey has heard.

The building was targeted because it was being used by a firm sending humanitarian aid and Starlink satellite equipment to Ukraine, it is alleged.

The attack was orchestrated by Dylan Earl, 20, and Jake Reeves, 23, who have admitted aggravated arson on behalf of the Wagner Group and an offence under the National Security Act, jurors heard.

It is alleged that they recruited a group of men to carry out the attack as part of a series of planned missions for the terrorist group.

Paul English, 61, allegedly drove to the warehouse in his Kia Picanto with Jakeem Rose, 23, Nii Mensah, 23, and Ugnius Asmena, 20.

Mensah and Rose were captured on CCTV and livestreamed video as they set the warehouse on fire before they made off, it is claimed.

Asmena and Rose, from Croydon; Mensah, of Thornton Heath, south London; and English, of Roehampton, south-west London, have denied aggravated arson relating to the warehouse fire.

Earl, of Elmesthorpe, Leicestershire, and Reeves, of Croydon, have additionally admitted plots to set fire to the Hide Restaurant and Hedonism Wines in Mayfair, west London, and kidnapping their owner on behalf of the Wagner Group, the court heard.

Two other defendants, Ashton Evans, 20, from Newport, Gwent, and Dmirjus Paulauskas, 23, from Croydon, are each charged with two counts of failing to disclose information about terrorist acts, which they deny.

Jurors began deliberating on verdicts last Tuesday and had been deliberating for more than 17 hours before being given a further direction.

On Monday, Mrs Justice Cheema-Grubb said she would accept verdicts on which at least 10 jurors were agreed.