Warehouse terror attack organiser was ‘easy meat’ for Wagner Group, court told

The orchestrator of a terror attack on a warehouse providing aid to Ukraine was “easy meat” for sophisticated Wagner Group operatives working for the Russian state, a court has heard.

Dylan Earl, 21, has admitted planning the arson attack on industrial units in Leyton, east London, on March 20 last year.

It took eight fire crews, with 60 firefighters, to get the blaze under control and caused about £1 million of damage.

Earl, from Elmesthorpe, Leicestershire, was working under the instruction of the proscribed Wagner Group, the Old Bailey was told.

He and Jake Reeves, 24, from Croydon, south London, targeted the warehouse because it was being used to supply humanitarian aid and StarLink satellite equipment to Ukraine.

They plotted more arson attacks on a restaurant and wine shop in Mayfair and the kidnap of the owner, the wealthy Russian dissident Evgeny Chichvarkin.

On Thursday, Earl and Reeves appeared in the dock of the Old Bailey to be sentenced along with four other young men.

Mitigating, Paul Hynes KC said “He 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”.

Mr Hynes said: “Our primary submission he is a sad individual who at the time of the commission of the offence was in his early 20s.

“He was for lengthy periods alone in his bedroom at his parents’ house and led a minimalistic existence taking drugs and gaming online.”

Mr Hynes said: “This is not a John le Carre novel. But nevertheless those who would wish the UK and other countries ill will continue to try to latch on to people like Mr Earl.”

While he accepted Earl had acted for a foreign power “with some enthusiasm” and put others in harm’s way, he said there was no evidence of an “underlying ideology” associated with “orthodox terrorism”.

He added: “Mr Earl was a young, naive and damaged individual which made him particularly vulnerable.”

The evidence suggested Earl was mainly motivated by money and would say whatever was expected of him in conversations with the Wagner Group operatives to keep the chat going, Mr Hynes suggested.

He added Earl had not intended any harm and had “expressly” made it clear that no-one should be hurt when the Mayfair businesses were targeted.

Prosecutor Duncan Penny KC asserted Earl was well aware what he was doing was an “act of terrorism”.

He said: “As expressed in messages he sent and received, he knew that Units 1 and 2 of the Cromwell Industrial Estate were being targeted because they were arranging deliveries of aid to Ukraine.”

Mitigating for Reeves, Henry Blaxland KC said: “There are two lessons which emerge from this rather troubling case.

“The first is that the evidence reveals 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.

“The second is the dangers of the drug ketamine. He was taking extensive quantities of ketamine. It distorted his judgment.”

Mr Blaxland disputed the prosecution assertion that the offence had a terrorist connection, adding: “He got caught up in this insidious online world and never went further than his bedroom.”

Earl and Reeves admitted aggravated arson on behalf of the Wagner Group and were the first to be convicted of offences under the National Security Act 2023.

Earl admitted preparing to set fire to the Hide Restaurant and Hedonism Wines in Mayfair, west London, and kidnap owner Mr Chichvarkin on behalf of the Wagner Group.

The two businesses collectively employed 200 people and were valued at more than £30 million.

Hide restaurant housed a 24-hour bakery on site and has 14 flats on floors above, while Hedonism Wines had 20 flats on two floors above the premises, Mr Penny said.

Mr Chichvarkin was described as a “high-profile Russian dissident and refugee” who has been vocal in his criticism of President Vladimir Putin and the war in Ukraine.

Earl will also be sentenced for possessing cocaine and thousands of pounds in criminal cash, which he admitted.

The court heard how Jakeem Rose, 23, from Croydon, and Nii Mensah, 23, from Thornton Heath, were recruited to set fire to the Leyton industrial units as fixer Ugnius Asmena, 21, of no fixed address, waited nearby.

They were found guilty of aggravated arson with intent to endanger life following an Old Bailey trial.

Mitigating for Mensah, Alan Kent KC said: “It was an offence committed by amateurs, road men, done to a very poor standard. It shows the low level of sophsitication and planning.”

Jurors previously heard “overwhelming” evidence linking them to the warehouse attack.

A sixth defendant, Ashton Evans, 20, from Newport, Gwent, was found guilty of failing to disclose information about terrorist acts relating to the Mayfair plot.

Previously the court has heard that Earl told a Wagner Group operative he met on Telegram he was keen to carry out a series of “missions”, of which the Leyton fire was to be the first.

In chat, Earl’s Wagner Group contact, Privet Bot, instructed him to watch the period drama The Americans and use it as a “manual” for his covert mission.

The television series is set during the Cold War and is about two KGB agents posing as Americans in Washington DC to spy on the American government.

Earl was arrested in a B&Q car park in Hinckley, Leicestershire, and videos of the warehouse fire being started were found on his iPhone.

In a search of his home, police recovered a Russian flag, more than £20,000 in cash and cocaine hydrochloride with a street value of some £34,000.

Evidence on his phone revealed details of a cryptocurrency account holding more than £58,000 and images of bundles of cash estimated to total £175,000.

Mrs Justice Cheema-Grubb is expected to hand down her sentences on Friday.