Undated handout file photo issued by the Crown Prosecution Service of Jake Reeves (left) and Dylan Earl . A group of Wagner Group stooges have been jailed for setting fire to a warehouse storing aid to Ukraine, as part of a planned “campaign of terrorism and sabotage” for the Russian state. Dylan Earl was jailed for 17 years and fellow organiser Jake Reeves for 12 years, both admitted charges against them, making them the first to be convicted of offences under the National Security Act 2023. Jakeem Rose was jailed for eight years and 10 months, Nii Mensah for nine years, and homeless Ugnius Asmena, seven years, after they were found guilty of carrying out the aggravated arson following an Old Bailey trial.Issue date: Friday October 24, 2025. PA Photo. Photo credit should read: CPS/PA Wire NOTE TO EDITORS: This handout photo may only be used for editorial reporting purposes for the contemporaneous illustration of events, things or the people in the image or facts mentioned in the caption. Reuse of the picture may require further permission from the copyright holder.Credit: PA
SIX British men recruited by Russia’s Wagner group mercenaries were jailed for a total of 65 years yesterday.
The greedy traitors torched a warehouse in Leyton, East London, causing £1million in damage and destroying vital satellite equipment destined for Ukraine.
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(Left to right) Ashton Evans, Nii Mensah, Jakeem Rose, and Ugnius Asmena were all sentenced at The Old BaileyCredit: PA
The spy cell was also asked to kidnap billionaire Evgeny Chichvarkin, a Russian dissident.
Ring-leader Dylan Earl, 21, from Elmesthorpe, Leics, got 17 years after admitting aggravated arson and a National Security Act offence. Jake
Reeves, 23, from Croydon, South London, admitted arson and taking money from a foreign spy service and got 12 years.
Nii Mensah, 23, of Thornton Heath, got ten years and Jakeem Rose, 23, and from the same area, was jailed for nine years for assisting a foreign intelligence service.
Ugnius Asmena, 20, got eight years while IT student Ashton Evans, 20, from Newport, Gwent, was given nine years.
The men were initially recruited by an automated Russian chatbot trawling for recruits on the encrypted Telegram app.
Jailing the men at the Old Bailey, Mrs Justice Cheema-Grubb said they betrayed their country for “easy money”.
The judge added Russians were “leveraging the greed and base instincts of individuals” and “in past years our parents and grandparents would have had a simple term for what they did – treason.”
Jake Reeves (left) and Dylan Earl (right) were among six Brits recruited by Russia’s Wagner groupCredit: PA
