Art heist 'pranksters' sent down for six months

Four men that staged two art gallery thefts and a kidnapping as part of a "prank" for their YouTube channel have been jailed by a judge in the UK.

The group, operating under the name Trollstation, staged faked thefts at the National Portrait Gallery and Tate Britain art museum in London this summer, causing panic among visitors. They set off a phony alarm system, pulled stockings over their heads and ran out shouting "get the paintings."

As art lovers stampeded for the exits one woman fainted with fear and the four, filmed by a fifth member of the team, ran for the street. Later that same day they staged a similar "prank" at Tate Britain - this time appearing to take a female hostage, although she too was part of the team.

Unsurprisingly, the police were not amused by their antics and paid the group a visit shortly after.

Daniel Jarvis, 27, Helder Gomes, 23, Endrit Ferizolli, 20, and Ebenezer Mensah, 29 pleaded guilty to two counts of using threatening, abusive, or insulting words or behaviour with intent to cause fear of, or provoke unlawful violence.

They were all sentenced on Monday for their part in the affair. Jarvis got 20 weeks inside, Mensah and Gomes to 18 weeks apiece, and Ferizolli got 16 weeks. Each of them also received an additional to eight weeks for the Tate Britain incident.

Youtube Video

"The hoaxes may have seemed harmless to them, but they caused genuine distress to a number of members of the public, who should be able to go about their daily business without being put in fear in this way," said Robert Short, of the Crown Prosecution Service, the BBC reports.

"We hope these convictions send a strong message that unlawful activities such as these will not be tolerated in London."

The fifth member of the group, Danh Van Le, was sentenced in March to 12 weeks in prison for his part in the incident, which will be added to the 24-week sentence he is currently serving for pretending to leave a bomb at a London bus stop.

It's not the first time the group has run afoul of the law. Jarvis and Gomes already have convictions for invading a football match in 2014 and trying to take pictures with the players. Gomes also has a conviction for staging a fake breakup with a member of the public and filming the encounter.

The Trollstation YouTube channel has 718,613 subscribers. Other videos include such pranks as "How to scare a prostitute to death," and a "Pregnant girlfriend domestic abuse" social experiment.

When they get out of prison Vulture West would advise the gang not to try their style of "pranking" in the USA. Such events are likely to get them shot by police who, unlike British law enforcement, tend to shoot first and ask questions later. ®