Three men found guilty of Wagner-linked arson attack in London

Damage caused by a fire at an industrial unit in Leyton

Around £1m-worth of damage was caused in the attack on the warehouse in east London, last year, the Old Bailey heard.

The attack was orchestrated by Dylan Earl, 20, and Jake Reeves, 23, who had already admitted aggravated arson on behalf of the Wagner Group - which the UK government has proscribed as a terrorist group.

Jakeem Rose, 23, Ugnius Asmena, 20, Nii Mensah, 23, were found guilty at the Old Bailey of aggravated arson with intent to endanger life after the blaze at the unit, which sent aid and internet satellite equipment to Ukraine.

Three men have been found guilty of an arson attack on a London warehouse linked to Ukraine on behalf of Russian mercenary group Wagner.

A fourth man, Paul English, 61, was cleared of wrongdoing.

Mensah and Rose were captured on CCTV and a livestream video on Mensah's phone as they set the warehouse on fire.

The livestream showed petrol being thrown onto the warehouse unit doors, setting them alight.

Eight fire engines composed of 60 firefighters were called to the Cromwell Industrial Estate in Leyton after it broke out shortly before midnight on 20 March 2024.

On the night of the attack, the jury heard a lorry driver parked nearby had bravely but unsuccessfully attempted to put out the fire.

The warehouse was targeted because it shipped humanitarian aid and goods to Ukraine, including Starlink satellite equipment - crucial for Ukrainian troops.

During the trial, the court heard there were more plots to carry out arson attacks on a restaurant and wine shop in Mayfair, west London and to kidnap its owner, a multi-millionaire and Russian dissident.

Earl is the first person to be convicted of offences under the National Security Act, passed by Parliament in 2023, to deal with the increased risk of hostile state activity.

"This case is clear example of an organisation linked to the Russian state using 'proxies', in this case British men, to carry out very serious criminal activity in this country on their behalf," head of the Met's Counter Terrorism Command, Commander Dominic Murphy said.

The court heard Earl used the messaging app Telegram to communicate with the Wagner Group.

A fifth man, Ashton Evans was found guilty of one count of failing to disclose information about terrorist acts, but cleared of failing to tell authorities about the warehouse arson.

A sixth man, Dmitrijus Paulauskas was found not guilty of failing to disclose information about terrorist acts.

David Cawthorne, unit head of the Crown Prosecution Service's counter-terrorism division, said: "These convictions send a very clear message that this type of offending will not be tolerated on UK soil."

Jota's car was likely speeding before fatal crash - Spanish police

13 minutes ago Share Save Paul Kirby Europe digital editor Share Save

EPA/Shutterstock Tyre marks were analysed some distance from where the Lamborghini's tyre blew out

All the evidence so far suggests Portuguese footballer Diogo Jota was driving when his car crashed on a Spanish motorway, and he was likely speeding, say police. The 28-year-old Liverpool player was killed with his brother André Silva, 25, when their Lamborghini car had a suspected tyre blowout in northwestern Zamora province early last Thursday. Spain's Guardia Civil police force said at the time the car had apparently been overtaking on the A52 motorway near Palacios de Sanabria when it left the road and burst into flames. "Everything also points to a possible excessive speed beyond the speed limit of the road [highway]," said Zamora's local traffic police.

England captain Maro Itoje says it would be "amazing" if Owen Farrell was planning a return to the international stage with his country.

Farrell, 33, won 112 caps for his country before taking a break from England duty after the 2023 Rugby World Cup.

Farrell, who captained England from 2018-23, is now eligible again after leaving French club Racing 92 to return to Saracens for next season.

"I want to see him happy," said British and Irish Lions captain Itoje, who is a team-mate of Farrell's with the touring team in Australia and also once again with Saracens.

"If he wants to play for England, why not? That would be amazing if that is in his plans and in his dreams.

"Owen is one of the best England players that we've ever seen. A fit Owen Farrell makes any team better. If that's in his ambitions, why not?

"I've had the honour and privilege of playing alongside Owen for all but one of the years I've played professional rugby. He's a real team man. He always wants the team to do well. He's quite selfless in that respect."

England's Lauren Filer says she wants to break the 80mph barrier to prove women can bowl with such pace.

Filer bowled three of the fastest 10 recorded overs by a woman in Friday's five-run T20 win over India, including claiming the wicket of star opener Smriti Mandhana.

"It's not necessarily a personal milestone for myself, but actually proving women can get to that milestone, and hopefully others can follow as well," said Filer.

"I don't want it just to be one or two people - we want loads of women to be able to be bowling at that speed."

The 80mph feat has never been officially recorded in a women's international match and Filer says the prospect of inspiring a new generation of fast bowlers acts as motivation.

"I think after Friday, people are probably talking about it more than they were and hopefully if I can hit it [80mph], then it encourages other people to try and aim for that and actually make the game even more exciting than it already is," Filer, 24, said.

"Obviously the women's game has gone so prolific over the last few years, and I know that when I come off the pitch, a lot of people say how excited they are to watch the bowling."

Beyond the excitement around pace, Friday's win having lost nine wickets for just 31 runs is something that Filer says breeds confidence for a side often criticised for their ability to handle pressure.

"Even as players we felt there was a shift in mentality," Filer said.

"The mentality we had moving forward and into that game, when good and bad things happened, we stayed level. And I think that's where we want to be in these pressure situations and show we can do it against the best in the world."

With India leading the five-match T20 series 2-1, England need a win at Old Trafford on Wednesday to keep the T20 contest alive, before three one day internationals wrap up India's tour.

Filer is part of the ODI squad which will be looking for fine-tuning ahead of a busy autumn including the Women's World Cup in India.

"We can't wait to see how we go against India. We obviously played very well against West Indies, I think we want to take that into India and hopefully we can get a few wins before the World Cup," added Filer.