Three men found guilty of Wagner-linked arson attack in London

BBC News

4 days ago

During the trial, the court heard that Earl had told a contact in the Wagner Group he met on Telegram that he was keen to carry out a series of "missions", of which the warehouse fire was only the first.
More plots were discovered, involving further arson attacks on a restaurant and wine shop in Mayfair, west London and to kidnap its owner, a multi-millionaire and Russian dissident Evgeny Chichvarkin.
Messages recovered from Earl's phone showed that reconnaissance had been carried out and discussions were ongoing about using explosives in the planned attacks.
Mr Chichvarkin was described in court as a "high-profile Russian dissident and refugee" who has been vocal in his criticism of Russian President Vladimir Putin and the war in Ukraine. His two Mayfair businesses collectively employed 200 people and were valued at more than £30m.
Earl, of Elmesthorpe in Leicester, is the first person to be convicted of offences under the National Security Act, passed by Parliament in 2023, to deal with the increased risk of hostile state activity.
A fifth man, Ashton Evans, of Newport, was found guilty of one count of failing to disclose information about terrorist acts, but cleared of failing to tell authorities about the warehouse arson.
A sixth man, Dmitrijus Paulauskas, of Croydon, was found not guilty of two counts of failing to disclose information about terrorist acts.
"This case is a clear example of an organisation linked to the Russian state using 'proxies', in this case British men, to carry out very serious criminal activity in this country on their behalf," head of the Met's Counter Terrorism Command, Commander Dominic Murphy, said.
"I hope these convictions send a strong warning of the very serious consequences of committing offences on behalf of a foreign country."