A notorious YouTube prankster has been jailed after ‘crossing the line’ with bomb hoaxes and mock robberies.
Danh Van Le – one of the founding members of Trollstation – has been jailed for nine months for his role in a fake art heist at the National Portrait Gallery, as well as another hoax at the Tate, reports The Mirror.
The 31-year-old – known as DigiDan – reportedly filmed a prank in which fake raiders with tights over their faces carried out a mock heist.
He was also accused of carrying out a stunt involving a home-made clock being mistaken for a bomb in which a 15-year-old accomplice approached strangers and revealed ‘the bomb’ inside a briefcase.
Unfortunately for them, the prank backfired when Van Le was arrested on suspicion of placing a bomb hoax on eight occasions in central London.
Van Le admitted one count of ‘bomb hoax placing with intent’ and was sentenced to 24 weeks at Inner London Crown Court.
He also admitted using ‘threatening, abusive or insulting words or behaviour with intent to cause fear or violence’ in the incidents at the two galleries and was sentenced to a further 12 weeks.
The now 16-year-old – who cannot be named as a juvenile – admitted the same charge and was given a 12-month intense referral order.
A spokesman for Trollstation said the sentences were ‘pretty unfair’:
A big production crew for the Jackie Chan movie The Foreigner blew up a bus in London and didn’t warn anybody apart from some local people.
In a way that impacted more people and scared a lot more people but a small production does this low budget thing and this is how it is dealt with.
Know where the line is guys – if you commit an actual crime, you’re probably going to end up in prison.
