The Putney resident accused of an arson attack that the authorities say was planned and paid for by the Russian intelligence services has been taken to hospital.
Paul Adrian English, 60, did not appear in court on Friday on charges of aggravated arson having been “taken ill” that same morning, the Old Bailey was told.
English is one of a group of five that prosecutors allege set fire to a warehouse in Leyton in east London on 20 March. The warehouse is linked to Ukraine and the attack came at the instigation of Russia, prosecutors claim.
Another defendant, Dylan James Earl, 20, has emerged as the main focus of the prosecutors’ efforts and has been accused of acting as a Russian spy, carrying out reconnaissance, planning the attack, and recruiting the others to the scheme.
Earl was allegedly taking instructions from the Wagner Group – the private paramilitary organisation closely tied to the Kremlin and Putin’s regime. The group is a banned organisation in the UK.
The target of the attack was property owned by Ukrainian-linked companies Oddisey and Meest UK, the court heard, and the fire that was set took more than four hours to bring under control.
Co-defendants
Along with Earl, fom Leicestershire, other co-defendants include Nii Kojo Mensah, 21, from Thornton Heath, Jake Reeves and Dmitrijus Paulauska, both 22, from Croydon, and Putney resident English – who is notably 40 years older than the others.
They are all accused of aggravated arson while “intending to destroy such property and being reckless as to whether life would be endangered”, while Reeves is accused of taking money from Russia and Paulauska allegedly failed to disclose to police information about terrorist acts.
Paulauska was released on bail but under strict conditions, including a curfew, handing over his passport, reporting each week to the police, not being allowed to leave the UK, and not being allowed to contact his co-defendants. His use of the internet will also be limited. The others will stay in custody.
The judge set the date for an eight-week trial starting in June next year, with a plea hearing set for this October.
The case has caused a diplomatic row. Russia’s ambassador was summoned to the Foreign Office and the government department put out a statement saying that it was “deeply concerned by allegations of Russian orchestrated malign activity on UK soil” and called for “an immediate cessation of this activity.”
Russia has denied being responsible for the attack.
