UK court convicts 3 men over arson attack authorities say was organized by Russian intelligence
Prosecutors said the March 20, 2024, attack was planned by agents of Russia's Wagner mercenary group , acting on behalf of Russian military intelligence. The British government has deemed Wagner a terrorist organization .
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Yahoo
40 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Des Moines man taken into custody after allegedly dousing woman, home with gasoline
A 60-year-old Des Moines man was arrested and charged after he allegedly doused a woman and a home with gasoline, according to a news release from the Des Moines Police Department. Brian Jeffries was taken into custody shortly after 9 a.m. Tuesday, July 8. Reports first came around 7:30 a.m. from a business in the 2900 block of East University Avenue in Des Moines. Officers spoke with an adult woman on a bicycle who reported Jeffries allegedly splashed her with gasoline after they "exchanged words," the release said. She was uninjured and the two did not know each other, police said. By the time officers arrived on the scene, Jeffries had fled. Around 9 a.m., officers responded to another call, this time from a home in the 3200 block of East University Avenue. Residents reported that Jeffries had allegedly approached their home and poured gasoline on the home itself and around the perimeter while reportedly proclaiming that he was going to set fire to the residence. Jeffries fled the scene before officers arrived but was located a short time later a few blocks away. He was taken into custody without incident. Jeffries has been charged with first-degree arson, a class B felony, and assault. He is currently being held at the Polk County Jail. Officers were assisted by the Des Moines Fire Department and their accelerant detection K-9, Yahtzee. Police continue to investigate the incident. Norah Judson is a reporter for the Register. Reach her at njudson@ This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: Des Moines man accused of dousing woman, home with gasoline
New York Times
an hour ago
- New York Times
The conman, the Champions League final, and how the king jibber was brought down
Posing for photographs with supermodel Naomi Campbell and world boxing champion Oleksandr Usyk, serial blagger Stephen Carruthers seemed to be having the time of his life. Carruthers had been able to bypass a 'ring of steel' security operation, put in place by the Football Association, to sneak his way into the 2024 Champions League final at Wembley and watch Real Madrid defeat Borussia Dortmund. Advertisement The 34-year-old had travelled more than 200 miles from Hull, east Yorkshire, to con his way inside, dressed in a suit and tie, for a night of five-star treatment in the VIP section. Today, though, his lifestyle as a self-confessed 'jibber' — the nickname for people entering a stadium without paying — caught up with him in front of a judge, who ordered him to carry out 100 hours of unpaid work and sentenced him to a 12-month community order. In what is understood to be the first court action of its kind, the FA launched a private prosecution under Section 11 of the 2006 Fraud Act to bring him to justice. Carruthers pleaded guilty in March to a charge of obtaining services dishonestly and had been warned at a follow-up hearing, directing sentencing to Harrow Crown Court, London, that he might face a prison sentence. Instead, he will serve time behind bars only if he re-offends. 'As the operator of Wembley Stadium, it is incumbent on the FA to take steps to ensure that 'jibbing' does not happen,' the FA said in a statement. 'The FA therefore prosecuted Mr Carruthers as part of a crackdown on unauthorised entry to the stadium and to serve as a deterrent to anyone else minded to copy (him).' Carruthers has previously pretended to be part of the actor Leonardo DiCaprio's entourage to get a ringside seat for the 'fight of the century' between Floyd Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao in 2015. Having blagged his way into MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, he posed for pictures with U.S. President Donald Trump and mingled with a host of Hollywood A-listers including Christian Bale, Michael Keaton and Paris Hilton. Five years ago, he donned a black tie and managed to gain entry to a BAFTA party, where he posed for photos with Helen Mirren, Elton John and Quentin Tarantino. For Wembley, his plan was nothing more sophisticated than using a trick that had, by his own admission, helped him sneak into England's national stadium to see Gareth Southgate's team beat Germany in Euro 2020's round of 16, held in June 2021 due to the pandemic. Advertisement That trick was to mingle with a group of genuine ticket holders, pretending to be part of the same group, and follow them into the entrance to Club Wembley — the section reserved for VIPs who are wined and dined in private boxes overlooking the pitch. Carruthers dressed up like a businessman, a previous hearing was told, for extra authenticity. He had his four-year-old son with him, which added to his look of respectability, and he then settled in for a Champagne buffet before finding seats to watch the game. The FA estimate that a top-tier VIP package for two people would have ordinarily cost a minimum of £21,800. His story ended up being a major embarrassment, therefore, to the sport's governing body, especially when he made the considerable mistake of boasting about his actions in an interview with the Daily Mail, apparently receiving £1,000 from the newspaper in return. 'I've done this so many times before I thought I'd give it a go and try the Champions League final,' Carruthers told the newspaper. 'It was quite simple. … No one said anything.' He was not stopped or asked if he had a ticket as he entered, and simply made his way into the VIP area where he took a seat and enjoyed a pre-match meal. There, Carruthers said in the same interview, he found himself alongside former Milan and Chelsea striker Andriy Shevchenko, Milan manager Massimiliano Allegri, and former world player of the year Kaka. 'To get the sort of access I got would cost about £10,000,' he added. 'It was a great night. I've done this many times, but this is my last time and what a way to go out.' In hindsight, however, Carruthers might now regret his decision to elaborate on his exploits in a national newspaper, especially when the FA was already highly sensitive about security at Wembley following the serious crowd disorder when more than 2,000 ticketless fans stormed into the stadium for the Euro 2020 final between England and Italy. Advertisement 'The devastating events of that day are why they (the FA) take offences such as this seriously,' prosecutor Rachna Gokani told the court at a previous hearing. 'There are real risks in terms of disorder, health and safety, and the status of the stadium.' Did it warrant the threat of a prison sentence? Carruthers argued that it did not. 'I think it's excessive, I've not hurt anyone,' he told the previous hearing, having been warned that he could face up to three years behind bars. The FA, however, has spent considerable money on trying to make an example out of Carruthers. 'Attempted security breaches at Wembley Stadium on the day of the UEFA Champions League final in 2024 caused significant health and safety risks, and negatively impacted the experience of legitimate ticket holders attending the event,' read the FA's statement. 'The FA will continue to take action against 'jibbers', such as Mr Carruthers, to ensure the safety of fans coming to Wembley Stadium.' Desperate to avoid another security embarrassment, the FA had mounted a £5million operation for the Champions League final, including enhanced ticket checks and an increased number of stewards, to stop anyone who should not be there from gaining entry. Nonetheless, the police arrested 53 people on the night for trying to get in illegally. Gokani told the court that Carruthers chose to 'advertise his offending' in the Daily Mail and had been 'essentially boasting about gaining entry… boasting precisely that he met Naomi Campbell and the heavyweight boxing champion Oleksandr Usyk and other celebrities'. When Carruthers was interviewed by a probation officer before the April hearing, the feedback was that he had shown 'no shame or remorse and was clearly proud of what he had accomplished'. As well as being made to carry out community service, Carruthers was also ordered to pay £1,000 compensation to the FA — the same sum, according to the governing body, that 'he was paid by the Daily Mail for his account of how he broke into Wembley stadium to attend the match'. (Top photos: Getty Images)
Boston Globe
2 hours ago
- Boston Globe
The wild Russian plot to burn a London restaurant and kidnap its owner
The men were arrested before they carried out those orders, but not before they had completed a separate mission: setting fire to a Ukrainian-owned warehouse in East London in March 2024. Thousands of messages discovered by police after the group's arrest, and made public during a monthlong trial at the Old Bailey courthouse in London, provide extraordinary insight into the workings of Russian operatives paying criminal gangs to conduct espionage and sabotage operations in Europe. Commander Dominic Murphy, head of the Metropolitan Police's Counter Terrorism Command, said the case was a 'clear example of an organization linked to the Russian state using 'proxies' to carry out very serious criminal activity in this country on their behalf.' Advertisement On Tuesday, a jury found three men guilty of arson over the warehouse fire, and convicted a fourth man of failing to tell police about the plans for Chichvarkin and his businesses. The two ringleaders of the group, Dylan Earl and Jake Reeves, had already admitted their roles in the extraordinary plot. The British cell started with Earl, a 21-year-old drug dealer based in the Midlands city of Leicester, who had become enamored with the Kremlin's cause and offered to build a network of 'hundreds of soldiers' to carry out its orders. Advertisement Investigators believe he contacted Russian intelligence operatives on the Telegram app through a channel associated with the Wagner Group paramilitary organization. The British government and security services assess that the group has been under the control of Russian state agencies and intelligence services since a failed 2023 coup. The Telegram channel had been posting appeals for international volunteers, directing them to contact an anonymous account for further instruction. On March 15, 2024, that account started messaging Earl. 'Hello friend,' began the exchange, before telling him: 'We would like you to help us in Europe.' The following day, a discussion ensued about potential action. Because Earl deleted records of his contributions to the conversation, only the messages from his Russian handler were presented to the court. 'You said that you have like-minded people. Tell me more details,' the Russian account asked. 'Do you have access to firearms?' it later wrote, and then, 'Excellent! That's what we need. The task on this warehouse will be our first step.' 'We need people that you have across Europe and the U.K.,' the account wrote. 'We need those who are our kindred spirits.' Within 24 hours of the Telegram chat starting, the Russian account issued its first order — an arson attack on two East London warehouses operated by a Ukrainian businessperson. Earl told Reeves, 23, a contact living in South London, to find recruits for the mission. Then, on March 20, a 22-year-old called Jakeem Rose set fire to both units using gasoline and a burning rag. The act was streamed live on FaceTime to Earl by another man, Nii Kojo Mensah, 23, who recorded it on his phone. A third man, Ugnius Asmena, 20, waited in a getaway car. Advertisement Rose and Mensah admitted arson but denied they recklessly endangered lives, while Asmena pleaded not guilty on the basis that he did not know an arson attack would take place. All three were convicted of the offense of arson endangering life. The men were gone by the time that local police arrived at the burning units on an unassuming industrial estate. A body-worn camera recorded one officer asking 'What is this place?' as flames tore through the warehouses, which contained Starlink satellite equipment and other supplies to be sent to Ukraine. The fire, which caused more than 1 million pounds (about $1.36 million) in damage, was the first of what Earl's Russian handler described as 'lots of glorious jobs ahead.' 'We'll start with something simple,' the handler had promised. 'From simple to complicated.' Next on the list was kidnapping Chichvarkin, the former owner of a Russian cellphone company who has publicly criticized Putin since moving to Britain. On March 31, 2024, Earl told Reeves that there would be a 'big payment for this man if you capture him,' adding: 'You find this man, nap him, bring him to my location and I pay you there and then and we fix rest. This man needs to be exiled to Russia.' Describing where the proposed 50,000-pound payment for the kidnapping would come from, Earl posted a Russian flag emoji in the chat. He offered another 10,000 pounds for setting fire to the Hide restaurant and Hedonism Wines, both owned by Chichvarkin. Advertisement Earl asked Ashton Evans, 20, a drug-dealing contact based in Wales, to set up the arson. He noted that the targets were just minutes away from Buckingham Palace, anticipating that the fire would be 'worldwide news' and would draw in British intelligence agencies. But he assured Evans that if he 'moved clean' and deleted evidence, 'we won't have any issues ever.' Evans was convicted Tuesday of failing to report his knowledge of the restaurant plot to police. He had earlier pleaded guilty of possessing cocaine with the intent to supply it to others. As reconnaissance and preparations for the attack were carried out, Earl voiced even bigger ambitions to his Russian Telegram contact. They messaged about creating a new political 'partisan movement' in Britain, 'punishing Russian traitors,' setting more warehouses on fire, spying on the government and businesses, and obtaining leaked information databases. But their plans were cut short when Earl was arrested in the parking lot of a hardware store April 10, 2024. Earl and Reeves admitted organizing the warehouse arson. In relation to the restaurant plot, Earl pleaded guilty to preparing acts of serious violence on behalf of a foreign power, and Reeves pleaded guilty to 'agreeing to accept a material benefit from a foreign intelligence service.' This article originally appeared in
