A judge locked up a TikTok prankster who developed a reputation for posting rude, harassing and even dangerous videos to the social media platform and then refusing to take any responsibility or criticism from the blowback the videos created.
The prankster punk who posted under the name “Mizzy” became a pariah in England for his insensitive videos, according to the UK Independent.
In one series of videos, for instance, he was seen walking into random homes and parading around inside as shocked and frightened homeowners stood by wondering who he was and why he had invaded their homes. Another video showed him running up and taking a pet dog away from an elderly woman and then running away with it. In another video he harassed a young schoolboy by grabbing hold of the boy’s uniform clothing and preventing him from getting away. He was also seen attacking and fighting a man with dwarfism.
But on Tuesday, Stratford Magistrates’ Court Judge Matthew Bone said he was not amused by Mizzy’s videos and sentenced the content creator to 18 weeks in detention in a young offender’s institution.
The prankster, whose real name is Bacari-Bronze O’Garro, was arrested several times over his videos and was banned from using any social media by a court order issued in October.
But he was re-arrested for breaking the court orders, and now he’s headed to the lockup.
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The jokester — who is part of a dangerous trend — has been rather defiant about the arrests and court orders.
Back in May the brash scofflaw offhandedly said “UK laws are weak” and insisted that “This whole public outroar just makes me laugh,” in an interview with TV presenter Piers Morgan, the New York Post reported at the time.
Is 18 weeks a fair sentence for Mizzy?
Yes: 29% (5 Votes)
No: 71% (12 Votes)
O’Garro pleaded not guilty to all the charges and excused away his disrespectful videos as just a result of his “desire to be famous,” and to “receive money and designer clothes from sponsors,” according to The Guardian.
The putative funny man also claimed that a friend of his who had access to his social media accounts is the one who posted the offensive videos after he was ordered to stay off social media.
The judge did not find it all so easily dismissible.
After rendering his verdict, the judge exclaimed that the convicted man’s jokes “are not funny.”
“This is a man who has stepped over the line of the order in a deliberate way. You need to understand the seriousness of your situation now,” the judge said.
“You need to understand that you deliberately flouted this court order within hours of it being made,” he said.
“Your further offending was motivated by your desire to be famous. Your actions caused innocent members of the public significant harm and distress,” the judge said. “You claimed on national television the law was weak. Put bluntly, your pranks are not funny.”
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Aside from the 18-week detention, O’Garro was fined for trespassing, and banned from using any social media — whether his own or appearing on anyone else’s — for two years.
Detective Chief Inspector Yasmin Lalani, of the Met Police, approved of the sentence, saying, “I just think it is appropriate, when you have disregard for the law, I think it is a fitting sentence and I hope that he gets some help. I think it is a loud and clear message that nobody is above the law and that you have got to be held accountable.”
Lalani added, “I think the right result has come through, more for the public as well, because I think the community were upset with the lack of respect for the law of the country and the distress and harassment he was causing, it was a blatant disregard for the harassment and distress for the community.”
The age of YouTube, TikTok and other platforms has given rise to the “video prankster” whose idiotic stunts are generally unfunny, disruptive, destructive and distressing. But perhaps with cases such as this, that trend will be dialed back a bit.
