Latest news with #JakeReeves
The Independent
a day ago
- The Independent
Jury out in Wagner Group arson trial
Jurors have retired 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. At 3.30pm on Tuesday, Mrs Justice Cheema-Grubb sent jurors out to start deliberating on verdicts.
The Independent
16-06-2025
- The Independent
Wagner Group arson accused ‘scared' by news of ‘Russian terrorism', court told
A homeless man has admitted being at the scene of a fire at warehouse used in the Ukraine war effort – but told jurors he got 'scared' when he learned it was linked to ' Russian terrorism'. 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 was told. 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. On Monday, Asmena gave evidence in their Old Bailey trial after English, Mensah and Rose declined to go into the witness box. Asmena, of no fixed address, admitted being at the scene but claimed he only learned later there had been a fire linked to Russia that night. He claimed English offered him £500 in cash to go with him in the car saying it would be 'simple and easy'. He insisted he was in the dark about what was going on, having been instructed only to two open car doors and then not say anything afterwards. The defendant, who claimed he was never paid, told jurors: 'After searching on Google I have seen some fire brigade calls. I have seen there is a fire in this place. That was the first time I learned about the fire. Obviously I was there. 'After a while – three or four weeks – I have seen another article. It talked about national security, Russian terrorism.' Defence barrister Philip Romans asked what he thought at the time. The defendant replied that he realised it was the same location he had been in but he did not recognise the names of those arrested. The defendant was detained by police last August at an address in Clapham, south London, where he was 'sofa surfing'. The court was told that in his first police interview he told a number of lies. Mr Romans said: 'You denied presence at the scene. You said you had been with your mother that evening. 'You also said you had never been in a Kia Picanto. You were shown a clip and you said 'it's not me' and you denied knowing Mr English. Why didn't you tell the truth?' The defendant replied: 'When I was looking at the articles online, one of the articles was talking about national security and I realised I was there. 'Talking about it on the news, talking about Russian agents. I was just there. 'They started talking about terrorism. I was just there. I started to get so scared they were talking about terrorist groups, national security, Russian agents.' The defendant said he declined to answer questions in a second interview on the advice of his solicitor. Mr Romans said: 'At any time on March 20 last year were you part of a plan to set fire to a warehouse in Leyton?' The defendant replied: 'I did not know any of the people involved. No, I was not involved.' Under cross-examination, Asmena denied he was the one who had recruited English to be the driver and given him £250 having already been paid for the job. When a jerry can was filled up at a petrol station on route to Leyton, Asmena said he thought the people he was with had planned to steal a car. Asmena, 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. The Old Bailey trial continues.
Telegraph
06-06-2025
- Telegraph
Wagner Group told British proxy to use KGB drama ‘as manual'
The Wagner Group told a British proxy to use a TV drama about KGB spies in the US 'as a manual', a court heard. Dylan Earl, 20, has admitted orchestrating an arson attack on an east London warehouse and plotting to burn down Mayfair businesses, kidnapping their Russian dissident owner last year, following help from the Russian-backed terrorist group. On Thursday, jurors at the Old Bailey saw a chat between Earl, of Elmesthorpe, Leicestershire, and a Wagner Group contact identified by the handle Privet Bot on Telegram. The day before the arson attack, Privet Bot instructed Earl to watch the television series The Americans, about KGB agents undercover in the US, 'in order to understand work'. Privet Bot said: 'The idea is like that. You need to organise partisan cells in the country and in Europe and think of a name for your movement. We'll give you support... 'Watch this series. It will be your manual. You'll have a source of funding through organising arsons.' The court has heard how Earl allegedly roped in Jake Reeves, 23, from Croydon, London, to help recruit people to carry out the arson attack on the warehouse. Earl also revealed his plans to Ashton Evans, 20, from Newport, Gwent, on Signal, Snapchat and mobile phone messages, it is alleged. They had initially communicated about drug dealing, with Earl adopting the name of a notorious Russian 'hitman', the court was told. Mr Evans was allegedly aware that Earl had orchestrated the warehouse arson attack. Three days after the fire, which caused £1 million of damage, Mr Evans asked: 'Did you light it up?' the court was told. They went on to discuss the plot to burn down Hide restaurant and Hedonism wine shop in Mayfair, snatch the owner and hand him over to Russia. Earl warned there would be a 'good amount of heat after this' and it would be 'on every news channel and radio in our country'. Mr Evans allegedly replied: 'Yes, I can sort if there is a way we can do so without people getting hurt cause that's when the police will take very very serious - like [terror] level serious.' Stressing the need for security, Earl told him: 'It will be a huge thing and every single spy agency trying to find who did it so careful ok.' Mr Evans agreed that it would 'bring a lot of attention MI5 etc', the court heard. On April 1 2024, Earl asked Mr Evans to delete their chats and asked if he could make connections with the IRA or the Irish Kinahan crime family. Earl suggested he wanted to 'build a link' between the Kinahans and Russia, saying: 'We have direct connection to the Kremlin, we can do suin [something] big.' After his arrest, Mr Evans claimed he did not take the chat seriously, having jokingly told Earl: 'And this is all in mine craft, right?' He also claimed in a police interview that he was just stringing Earl along to get a refund for £300 of fake cocaine he had bought, the court was told. Earl and Reeves have pleaded guilty to aggravated arson of the east London warehouse and an offence under the National Security Act. The court was told that Reeves had revealed details of their plans to another contact, Dmitrijus Paulauskas, having described Earl as 'Russian mafia'. On the kidnap plot, Reeves allegedly told Mr Paulauskas that the idea was to 'get him sent back to Russia for imprisonment'. Paulauskas, 23, from Croydon, allegedly responded to Wagner Group activity on UK soil with glee, saying: 'I'm so f------ gassed cos that means the west has already have already u r allowed to call urself (sic) Russian now.' The defendant, who was later to claim that he took none of it seriously, allegedly responded to the warehouse attack by saying: 'Holy f--- so Wagner literally has UK gangs doing their work.' Shortly before their arrests, the men pondered why Earl – 'the Russian guy' – had not been on Snapchat for five days. Mr Paulauskas suggested he was busy in his job 'sabotaging UK'. Prosecutor Duncan Penny KC told jurors that by then Earl had been in custody for nine days. He said: 'The position is clear: Reeves told Mr Paulauskas about the plan to kidnap the target, who had sent money to Ukraine and who was to be sent back to Russia, and about the fact that the attack on the east London warehouse.' Mr Penny added that the realisation there was foreign interference by the Wagner group on British soil through the use of 'UK criminals as proxies', seemed to have been a matter of 'quite some pleasure' to Mr Paulauskas. Mr Evans and Mr Paulauskas have each denied two charges of failing to disclose information about terrorist acts, which they deny.
The Independent
05-06-2025
- The Independent
Wagner Group UK proxy instructed to use Cold War drama as a ‘manual'
A proxy for the terrorist Wagner Group was instructed to use a Cold War drama about KGB spies in the United States as a 'manual' for his mission in the UK, a court has heard. Dylan Earl, 20, has admitted orchestrating an arson attack on an east London warehouse, and plotting to burn down Mayfair businesses and kidnap their Russian dissident owner last year. On Thursday, jurors at the Old Bailey saw chat between Earl, of Elmesthorpe, Leicestershire, and a Wagner Group contact identified by the handle Privet Bot on Telegram. The day before the arson attack, Privet Bot instructed Earl to watch the television series The Americans, about KGB agents undercover in the US, 'in order to understand work'. Privet Bot went on: 'The idea is like that. You need to organise partisan cells in the country and in Europe and think of a name for your movement. We'll give you support… 'Watch this series. It will be your manual. You'll have a source of funding through organising arsons.' The court has heard how Earl allegedly roped in Jake Reeves, 23, from Croydon, south London, to help recruit people to carry out the arson attack on the warehouse. Earl also revealed his plans to Ashton Evans 20, from Newport, Gwent, on Signal, Snapchat and mobile phone messages, it is alleged. They had initially communicated about drug dealing, with Earl adopting the name of a notorious Russian 'hitman', the court was told. Evans was allegedly aware that Earl had orchestrated the warehouse arson attack. Three days after the fire, which caused £1 million of damage, Evans asked: 'Did you light it up?' the court was told. They went on to discuss the plot to burn down Hide restaurant and Hedonism wine shop in Mayfair, snatch the owner and hand him over to Russia. Earl warned there would be a 'good amount of heat after this' and it would be 'on every news channel and radio in our country'. Evans allegedly replied: 'Yes, I can sort if there is a way we can do so without people getting hurt cause that's when the police will take very very serious – like t***or (terror) level serious.' Stressing the need for security, Earl told him: 'It will be a huge thing and every single spy agency trying to find who did it so careful ok.' Evans agreed that it would 'bring a lot of attention MI5 etc', the court heard. On April 1 2024, Earl asked Evans to delete their chats and asked if he could make connections with the IRA or the Irish Kinahan crime family. Earl suggested he wanted to 'build a link' between the Kinahans and Russia, saying: 'We have direct connection to the Kremlin, we can do suin (something) big.' After his arrest, Evans claimed he did not take the chat seriously, having jokingly told Earl: 'And this is all in mine craft, right?' He also claimed in a police interview that he was just stringing Earl along to get a refund for £300 of fake cocaine he had bought, the court was told. Earl and Reeves have pleaded guilty to aggravated arson of the east London warehouse and an offence under the National Security Act. The court was told that Reeves had revealed details of their plans to another contact, Dmirjus Paulauskas, having described Earl as 'Russian mafia'. On the kidnap plot, Reeves allegedly told Paulauskas that the idea was to 'get him sent back to Russia for imprisonment'. Paulauskas, 23, from Croydon, allegedly responded to Wagner Group activity on UK soil with glee, saying: 'I'm so f****** gassed cos that means the west has already have already u r allowed to call urself Russian now (sic).' The defendant, who was later to claim that he took none of it seriously, allegedly responded to the warehouse attack by saying: 'Holy f*** so Wagner literally has UK gangs doing their work..' Shortly before their arrests, the men pondered why Earl – 'the Russian guy' – had not been on Snapchat for five days. Paulaskas suggested he was busy in his job 'sabotaging UK'. Prosecutor Duncan Penny KC told jurors that by then Earl had been in custody for nine days. He said: 'The position is clear: Reeves told Mr Paulauskas about the plan to kidnap the target, who had sent money to Ukraine and who was to be sent back to Russia, and about the fact that the attack on the east London warehouse.' Mr Penny added that the realisation there was foreign interference by the Wagner group on British soil through the use of 'UK criminals as proxies', seemed to have been a matter of 'quite some pleasure' to Paulauskas. Evans and Paulauskas have each denied two charges of failing to disclose information about terrorist acts, which they deny. Jakeem Rose, 23, from Croydon, Ugnius Asmena, 20, of no fixed address, Nii Mensah, 23, of Thornton Heath, south London, and Paul English, 61, of Roehampton, south-west London, have denied aggravated arson relating to the warehouse fire. The Old Bailey trial continues.
Sky News
04-06-2025
- Business
- Sky News
Russian mercenary group ordered arson attack on London warehouse linked to Ukraine, Old Bailey hears
Arsonists set fire to a London warehouse linked to Ukraine after one of the men who orchestrated the attack was recruited by a Russian mercenary group, a court has heard. Around £1m of damage was caused by the blaze at an industrial unit in Leyton that was supplying StarLink satellite equipment to Ukraine, the Old Bailey was told. The attack on 20 March last year was orchestrated by 20-year-old Dylan Earl - who was recruited by the Wagner Group - and Jake Reeves, 23, jurors heard. Reeves, of Croydon, has pleaded guilty to agreeing to accept a material benefit from a foreign intelligence service under the National Security Act 2023. Earl, of Elmesthorpe, Leicestershire, has pleaded guilty to aggravated arson and preparatory conduct under the National Security Act 2023. The court was told the pair had gone on to plot more arson attacks on a restaurant and wine shop in Mayfair and the kidnap of their multi-millionaire owner, who was a Russian dissident. Six men have gone on trial in the case - which is the first concerning allegations under the UK's new counter-espionage laws. Two units in the Cromwell Industrial Estate were set on fire - and it took eight fire engines and 60 firefighters to put out the blaze, the court heard. The arsonists livestreamed as they set fire to the business, jurors were told. The six men on trial are charged with a range of offences including aggravated arson and failure to disclose information about terrorist acts. They have all pleaded not guilty. Duncan Penny KC, prosecuting, told the jury that Earl was "knowingly acting at the behest of the Wagner Group" - a private military contractor linked to Russia which was proscribed as a terrorist organisation in September 2023 - and "commissioned the arson attack on the warehouses". Explaining how Earl was recruited, the prosecutor said he contacted the Wagner Group "when he joined a broadcast channel in its name on the social media application Telegram". "From there, he became connected to two handles, 'Privet Bot' aka 'Lucky Strike', who acted on behalf of the Wagner Group," Mr Penny told the court. "It appears that Earl expressed a willingness to undertake 'missions' of which the Leyton arson attack was the first. It is apparent that Earl knew he was acting against Ukrainian, and for Russian, interests." Mr Penny told the court that the warehouse units in Cromwell Industrial Estate appeared to have been selected as targets over their connection to Kyiv. Specifically, the jury heard that the business conducted there was concerned with logistics, frequently delivering goods to Ukraine, including StarLink satellite equipment. "The businesses which operated from there were also involved in organising humanitarian aid efforts to support Ukraine," the prosecutor added. Mr Penny said an expert witness will tell the court that after an aborted coup against the Russian government in June 2023, the Wagner Group and its activities - which include sabotage - have been under the direct command of the Russian government. Defendants Ashton Evans, 20, from Newport, Gwent, and Dmitrijus Paulauskas, 22, from Croydon, deny failure to disclose information about terrorist acts. Fellow defendants Paul English, 61, of Roehampton, Nii Kojo Mensah, 23, of Thornton Heath, and Jakeem Barrington Rose, 23, of Croydon, and Ugnius Asmena, 20, of no fixed address, all deny aggravated arson.
