Leicestershire man accused of targeting Ukraine-linked firms on behalf of terrorist organisation

A Leicestershire man accused of orchestrating arson attacks on Ukraine-related businesses in London on behalf of banned terrorist organization the Wagner Group is due to stand trial next year. Dylan Earl, from Elmesthorpe, was charged under the National Security Act 2023, the first case involving alleged offenses under the new espionage laws.

Today (Friday), Mr Justice Jeremy Baker, sitting at the Old Bailey, set a date of June 2, 2025 for Earl and four other men to appear for an eight-week trial. The 20-year-old is accused of being in contact with a Wagner Group manipulator before carrying out target reconnaissance “in connection with activity intended to benefit Russia”.

Earl appeared via video link and spoke to confirm his details during Friday’s hearing. Dmitrijus Paulauska, 22, who is accused of failing to disclose information about terrorist acts to police, spoke to confirm his personal details when he appeared on conditional bail.

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Court documents show Earl is accused of recruiting and paying others to carry out an arson attack at an industrial facility in Leyton, east London, on Ukraine-related businesses owned by Oddisey and Meest UK. The blaze on March 20 required 60 firefighters to control, and the alleged target of the fire is labeled as “Mr. X” in the allegations.

Earl is charged with aggravated arson recklessly as to whether life will be endangered contrary to section 1 of the Criminal Damage Act 1971, conduct preparatory to an act endangering life or a person or an act creating a serious risk to the health and safety of the person. public in the United Kingdom contrary to section 18 of the National Security Act 2023 and assisting a foreign intelligence service contrary to section 3 of the National Security Act 2023.

Co-defendant Jake Reeves, 22, is accused of accepting cash knowing it came from a foreign intelligence service. Two other defendants, Paul English, 60, and Nii Mensah, 21, were also charged with aggravated arson. The court was told the Englishman became “ill” and was taken to hospital on Friday morning, while Mensah and Reeves were belatedly brought to court from prison. A plea hearing is due to take place at the Old Bailey on October 4.

Reeves, of Croydon, south London, is charged with aggravated arson recklessly as to whether life would be endangered, contrary to section 1 of the Criminal Damage Act 1971, and agreeing to accept a material benefit from a foreign intelligence service , contrary to section 17. (2) and (11) of the National Security Act 2023.

English, of Roehampton, south-west London, and Mensah, of Thornton Heath, south London, are both charged with aggravated arson recklessly as to whether life would be endangered, contrary to section 1 of the Criminal Damage Act 1971. Paulauska, of Croydon, is charged with possessing information about acts of terrorism contrary to section 38B of the Terrorism Act 2000.

The Wagner Group, whose former leader Yevgeny Prigozhin was killed in a plane crash last summer, is a banned terrorist organization in Britain. It was banned as a terrorist group last September after the Commons’ Foreign Affairs Committee warned that ministers were not doing enough to counter the threat posed by the private military firm. Mr Prigozhin and his troops staged a short-lived coup against the authorities in Moscow last June.

Paulauska was released on conditional bail, while the other four defendants were remanded in custody.