Dealer waged 'sustained terror campaign' for Russia in UK

Dylan Earl, 21, pleaded guilty for his role in organising an arson attack on a warehouse

A drug dealer from Leicestershire carried out "a sustained campaign of terrorism and sabotage on UK soil" in support of Russia, the Old Bailey has heard.

Dylan Earl, 21, is set to become the first person to be sentenced under the new National Security Act, which carries a maximum term of life in prison.

He has previously pleaded guilty for his role organising an arson attack on a warehouse in London in March 2024 which contained equipment bound for Ukraine.

Prosecutor Duncan Penny KC said Earl also "sought to pay a person identifying as a serving UK soldier" for intelligence for the Russian mercenary Wagner Group.

Earl is due to be sentenced on Friday.

Five other men are also expected to be sentenced in relation to the investigation. They are:

• Jake Reeves, 23, who pleaded guilty to a National Security Act offence

• Nii Mensah, 23, Jakeem Rose, 23, and Agnius Usmena, 20, who were found guilty of burning down the warehouse

• Ashton Evans, 20, from South Wales who was found guilty of failing to disclose information about terrorist acts

On Thursday, prosecutor Duncan Penny KC, said: "Earl's actions constitute a sustained campaign of terrorism and sabotage on UK soil, carried out in support of a foreign power, the Russian Federation, and its war of aggression against Ukraine."

He said Earl had "demonstrated a willingness to go to extreme lengths, including endangering lives".

Mr Penny also told the court that Earl discussed burning down a warehouse in the Czech Republic for £35,000.

The focus of the trial was the burning down of a Ukrainian-owned warehouse in Leyton, East London, on 20 March 2024 that was used to send goods to Ukraine, including Starlink satellite terminals.

Earl was supposed to receive £9,000 for his role but was paid less because he carried out the plan early without his handler's sign-off.

The jury were shown messages between him and Wagner Group-linked accounts in which he discussed planning the attack and told his handler: "I know I can be the best spy you have ever seen."

Mr Penny said "additional messages show that Earl sought to pay a person identifying as a serving British soldier for 'intelligence' for" the Wagner Group.

The sentencing judge, Mrs Justice Cheema Grubb, was shown a Telegram exchange between Earl and a man claiming to be a soldier in the British Army who used the name Huncho 0tf.

Huncho 0tf told Earl he had been in the army for six years, to which Earl replied "I work for a PMC [private military company]" and "we pay well for intelligence".

Huncho 0tf replied: "Tell your superiors I can get any type of information not only in my squadron but I have mates in the SAS."

The Ukrainian-owned warehouse in Leyton, East London was torched in March 2024

In another exchange, Earl communicated with a man in Slovakia about a plot to carry out an arson attack on a warehouse in the Czech Republic, writing: "A warehouse needs to be [fire emoji]."

Asked "when do you need it done", Earl replied: "The sooner the better. Asap really."

The court was told other messages showed he sought "banking information of European residents" and discussed kidnapping a billionaire for the purposes of extortion.

Earl's barrister Paul Hynes KC described his client as "a sad individual" and compared him to the deluded fictional character Walter Mitty.

He said Earl "led a rather nihilistic existence which involved taking drugs" and "saw the world through the desperate, pathetic and delusional prism of online gaming".

The prosecution's case that Earl had waged a "sustained campaign of terrorism and sabotage" was described by Mr Hynes as hyperbole.

Mr Hynes said his client was "vulnerable" and "easy meat for the fairly sophisticated operative of the Wagner Group... acting as proxies for the Russian Federation".

He continued: "He never left his bedroom. He never met the people he recruited... These are not sophisticated agents of espionage."

The judge said that was "rather an old-fashioned view", adding: "It is not a question of dropping people behind enemy lines."

She is expected to pass sentence at the Old Bailey on Friday.