FOUR YouTube pranksters who caused a stampede at the National Portrait Gallery
when they staged a fake heist in the wake of Tunisian and Belgian terror
attacks have been jailed.
The “Trollstation” jokers caused mass panic during the hoax on July
5 last year, just one week after the Tunisian beach massacre that killed 39.
Visitors at the gallery in Trafalgar Square, London fled as the “pranksters”
pulled the stunt, with some trampled while one woman passed out.
The group then moved on to Tate Britain, where they carried out a fake robbery
and kidnapping.
During the hoax, the group carried fake paintings in, while Ferizolli carried
a speaker and played a loud siren.
The other three members then pulled tights over their heads, picked up the
paintings and ran through the gallery, shouting “I’ve got the painting”,
while another member, Danh Van Le, filmed them.
Prosecutor Katie Weiss told City of London Magistrates’ Court: “There was
panic in the gallery and a stampede of people leaving the gallery.
“One of the complainants was so stunned by what happened, she said she
was absolutely terrified.
“They ran out of the gallery. They looked as if they have stolen art. One
of the males shouts, ‘this is a hoax’.”
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The group then moved to the Tate Britain gallery in Millbank, central London
to carry out a similar stunt.
They carried in the fake paintings, put tights over their heads and then ran
out again waving the pictures, and dragged out a female accomplice.
They later uploaded the videos to their YouTube channel, which has more than
700,000 subscribers and more than two million views.
Daniel Jarvis, 27, Endrit Ferizolli, 20, Ebenezer Menzah, 29, and Helder
Gomes, 23, were jailed for a total of 72 weeks after pleading guilty to two
counts of using threatening behaviour, causing fear of unlawful violence.
A statement from Barry Palmer, head of security and and safety at the gallery,
was read out during their trial.
He mentioned the hoax took place a year after a shooting in a Jewish museum in
Belgium “and just over a week since the mass shooting in Tunisia”.
He added: “Incidents such as this have the potential to call into
question our ability.”
Prosecutor Weiss said: “They ran around as if they were committing a
robbery.
“Mr Gomes grabs the female by the neck. The defendants come out and go
downstairs, with the female in a headlock.
“We have a witness who said he was very distressed.”
Sentencing the group, District Judge MIke Snow said Trollstation was “a
group that believes it is amusing to film acts impacting on members of the
public and then upload those mages on to the internet”.
He said: “I was told that the defendants believed what they were doing
was funny. Their sense of humour is warped.
“It was quite foreseeable those attending the gallery, not being in on
the joke, but being familiar with recent scenes of people running for their
lives from terrorist acts, would be terrified and panic. And that is what
happened.
“A stampede followed at the National Portrait Gallery. Some people were
trampled on. Later, a similar visitor was found unconscious.
“The aggravating features in this case are the high levels of fear of
violence that were experienced, the risk of death or serious injury in the
stampede.
“The offences took place in art galleries whee vulnerable persons are
likely to be present. There was a high level of planning. It was a group
action.
“And it was an action which involved the public humiliation of the
victims of the behaviour, by recording their terrified reactions to upload
on to the internet.”
Jarvis, of Gravesend Kent, was locked up for 20 weeks, Menzah, of Peckham,
south east London, was given 18 weeks, and Gomes, of Stockwell, south
London, was jailed for 18 weeks.
Ferizolli, of Colindale, north London was given 16 weeks in a young offenders’
institution.
Van Le, who filmed the stunts, was jailed in March this year for nine months
for a bomb hoax.