Britons 'volunteering to commit crimes for Russia', says counter-terror chief

Young British men are reaching out online to "hostile" foreign states such as Russia and China offering to commit crimes for them, the head of counter-terrorism at the Metropolitan Police has told Sky News's Sadiya Chowdhury.

Commander Dominic Murphy was speaking ahead of the sentencing of Dylan Earl, 21, a part-time drug dealer, Jake Reeves, 23, an aircraft cleaner at Gatwick Airport, and four others for espionage, terrorism offences and arson. On Thursday, the Old Bailey heard that Earl had been "groomed" by a chatbot operated by mercenaries to commit "a sustained campaign of terrorism and sabotage on UK soil".

Earl and Reeves both pleaded guilty to offences under the National Security Act 2023, and became the UK's first offenders to be sentenced under this new counter-espionage law. The trial of their accomplices - Nii Kojo Mensah, Jakeem Rose, Ugnius Asmena and Ashton Evans - heard how Earl had been in contact with internet users believed to be Russian agents.

Users called PrivetBot and L_U_C_K_Y_S_T_R_I_K_E had told him to collect details of Ukraine-linked businesses, warehouses and bank accounts. Earl was also instructed to watch the television spy series The Americans.

UK authorities believe those accounts were agents of the Russian-backed Wagner group, a now-disbanded mercenary organisation. Commander Murphy warned that incidents in which foreign agents attempted to recruit British citizens were becoming "increasingly common".

He said those targeted tended to be men aged in their late teens to mid-20s, and that while some were approached, others were "proactively reaching out" to Iran or Russia. Commander Murphy said: "They really are the definition of proxies on working on behalf of a foreign government here in this country to undertake their activity which directly harms us." The number of potential recruits available online to hostile state actors posed a "challenge" for the police, he added.

In addition to the offer of a £9,000 payment, he said Earl had been motivated by the glamour of working for a foreign state. Read more from Sky News:Asylum seeker found guilty of hotel worker's murderSheffield Wednesday enters administrationNew Japanese PM vows to hike defence spending "I think there was something about feeling like he was part of the Wagner group and then, as a result, part of the Russian state.

"So for Earl at least, it's not the case for everybody that we see... at least that did appear to be part of his motivation." Earl was "attracted to Russia, a Russian way of life," the counter-terror chief said.

"He even talked in some of his chat about potentially moving to Russia for a new start. So I think it was about more than money for Earl." Commander Murphy said it was difficult to say how many people were potentially working for the Russian state across the UK, but added there were "a number of investigations that are similar to this all over the country".

He said that the Kremlin had been forced to attempt to recruit Britons online because it was much harder for its operatives to work in the UK following the response to the Salisbury poisonings, in which former Russian military officer Sergei Skripal was targeted with a nerve agent. "What they're doing is using social media, some encrypted social media to reach out to young people here," he said.

"They're mostly people involved in criminality or on the periphery of crime. And then enticing them into conducting activity on their behalf.

"But, as we saw with Earl, in this case he was a willing participant. In fact, he was going further trying to offer additional support to the Russian state for activity here in the UK but also in Europe." The Kremlin has denied engaging in sabotage in the UK and in EU countries.

In a statement, Moscow's embassy in London said an "aggressive campaign" of anti-Russian scaremongering was designed to distract people in the UK from their country's domestic problems. It added: "It is a political tool designed to desensitise the electorate to worsening socio-economic problems at home and to justify significant, though unnecessary hikes in military spending.

"By invoking the spectre of a Russian threat, European governments seek to forge a consensus for a more confrontational foreign policy towards Moscow and to undermine any efforts aimed at finding a diplomatic resolution of the Ukraine crisis.".