The ringleader behind an arson attack and plot to kidnap a billionaire Russian dissident had been "groomed" by a chatbot, operated by Wagner mercenaries, a court was told.

The Old Bailey heard the fire at an industrial estate in Leyton, East London, on 20 March 2024, caused an estimated £1m of damage, including to vital Starlink satellite equipment destined for Ukraine.

Dylan Earl, 21, a builder and part-time drug dealer who lived with his parents in Elmesthorpe, Leicestershire, has admitted his role in orchestrating the attack by recruiting others to carry it out.

During his trial, the court heard he also tasked two people to burn down an exclusive restaurant and wine dealership in Mayfair and to kidnap Evgeny Chichvarkin, the billionaire owner.

However, Paul Hynes KC, defending, told a sentencing hearing on Thursday that the Russians were "trash fishing" using a Russian language chatbot called PrivetBot on the encrypted Telegram platform and Earl was "easy meat".

"Our prime submission is that he is, or was at the time, a sad individual who sat for lengthy periods alone in his bedroom at his parents' house.

"His minimalist existence was taking drugs, particularly cannabis and involving himself in online gaming.

"We do not seek to characterise Dylan Earl as a victim in this case but there are vulnerable elements in him that were used by PrivetBot, acting on behalf of the Wagner Group, as a proxy for the Russian Federation."

In April 2024, PrivetBot messaged Earl. His replies had been deleted, but the Wagner contact said: "I see that you know what you want. It's a great happiness that you have realised so early that you are a WARRIOR. We need your connections and your capabilities."

Mr Hynes told the judge, Mrs Justice Cheema-Grubb, Earl was "very much a sad individual" who "had a certain detachment from reality" and "sought praise, importance and significance".

"The potent effect of the messaging is shown in his desperate, pathetic and delusional responses," he added.

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Earl messaged the contact, offering to recruit thousands more to join their operation and boasting of his underworld contacts.

"If you need connections with IRA, I can sort it. You want criminal connections with murderers, kidnappers, soldiers, drug dealers, fraudsters, car thieves, I can sort it all," Earl wrote.

But the court heard Earl never left his bedroom and never met the people he recruited.

Earl and five other men are being sentenced for their part in the Russian-ordered arson attack on behalf of the Wagner Group, a Russian mercenary company, which is proscribed as a terrorist organisation in the UK.

The Kremlin denies accusations that it is involved in any such acts of sabotage.

The men will be sentenced on Friday.

(c) Sky News 2025: Ringleader behind arson attack and kidnap plot was 'groomed' by Russian chatbot, court told