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A British man has pleaded guilty to two charges in a case that prosecutors have linked to Russia, and which falls under new national security legislation designed to crack down on hostile activity by foreign states.
Dylan Earl, 20, from Elmesthorpe in Leicestershire, admitted on Friday at a criminal court in London to a charge of aggravated arson undertaken in March on a commercial property in east London that has been linked to Ukraine.
Earl also admitted to plotting to endanger lives and commit acts of serious violence against people in the UK, an offence known as “preparatory conduct” under Britain’s 2023 National Security Act.
Following Moscow’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, British relations with Russia have fallen to their lowest level since the cold war, and there have been multiple mutual allegations of spying.
Earlier this month, Ken McCallum, head of MI5, the UK’s domestic intelligence service, said that Russian military intelligence was on “a sustained mission to generate mayhem” on British streets, using “arson, sabotage . . . and dangerous actions conducted with increasing recklessness”, often via recruited proxies.
German intelligence has made similar allegations, with domestic spy chief Thomas Haldenwang warning this month of a significant increase in “aggressive behaviour” by Russian agents across Europe.
At the Old Bailey in London, Earl pleaded not guilty to a third charge — assisting a foreign intelligence service — and prosecutor Duncan Penny KC said his pleas would be accepted without the need for him to stand trial.
“The facts of the case and the conduct in which the defendant became involved may adequately be described under count two [of preparatory conduct],” Penny said, adding that this carried a longer maximum sentence of life imprisonment.
When first charged by the Crown Prosecution Service, Earl was “alleged to have engaged in conduct targeting businesses which were linked to Ukraine in order to benefit the Russian state”.
Three other defendants — Jakeem Rose, 22, of Croydon; Nii Mensah, 22, of Thornton Heath; and Paul English, 61, of Roehampton — are also accused alongside Earl of the aggravated arson charge. They pleaded not guilty on Friday, although Rose admitted to being guilty of “simple arson”.
Jake Reeves, 23, from Croydon, and Ugnius Asmena, 19, from Wandsworth, have not yet entered a plea to the aggravated arson charge.
Reeves faces an additional charge of accepting “material benefit”, such as cash, knowing that it was from a foreign intelligence service.
A sixth defendant, Dmitrijus Paulauskas, 22, from Croydon, pleaded not guilty at a hearing earlier this month to failing to disclose information about terrorist acts.
The men are due to be tried for the outstanding charges in June.