Earl Jailed 17 Years Over Wagner-Linked Arson Plot

Dylan Earl, 21, has been jailed for 17 years after admitting aggravated arson for a March 2024 blaze at an east London industrial estate that caused about £1 million of damage to warehouses storing Starlink satellite equipment bound for Ukraine. Prosecutors at the Old Bailey said Earl conspired with a Wagner mercenary-group handler known as 'Lucky Strike,' discussed kidnapping and extorting Revolut co‑founder Nikolay Storonsky, and plotted arson at a Czech warehouse and attacks on other critics of the Russian state. The court heard Earl had been groomed via a Russian-language Telegram chatbot called PrivetBot, recruited accomplices to carry out attacks on behalf of Wagner, and sought to pay a serving British soldier for intelligence. Earl was sentenced while five co-defendants were convicted and are awaiting sentencing. Prosecutors described the operation as a sustained campaign of terrorism and sabotage on UK soil, underscoring concerns about foreign influence operations.