Four members of YouTube prank group Trollstation jailed for faking art gallery heists

The group staged a mock robbery at the National Portrait Gallery and a prank kidnapping and robbery at Tate Britain

Two of the group during the 'staged robbery' (Met Police)

Four members of the Trollstation YouTube channel have been jailed for staging fake robberies in two London art galleries.

The group staged a mock robbery at the National Portrait Gallery and a prank kidnapping and robbery at Tate Britain on Sunday, 5 July, 2015.

Footage of the fake robbery uploaded to the group's YouTube channel, which has over 720,000 subscribers, shows the men wearing tights over their heads as they pretend to steal framed artwork they had purchased themselves.

The group also played a fake alarm during the heist, causing patrons of the gallery to run towards the exit and down the street. One woman passed out during the prank.

Later in the same afternoon, they performed a similar mock robbery at the Tate Gallery as they dragged a woman from the gallery in a fake kidnapping.

The BBC reports Robert Short, of the Crown Prosecution Service, said: "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.

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

All four members pleaded guilty to causing fear and provocation of violence during the two hoaxes and were sentenced on Monday at the City of London Magistrates' Court.

Daniel Jarvis, 27, was sentenced to 20 weeks in total, Helder Gomes, 23 and Ebenezer Mensah, 29, were given 18 weeks each and Endrit Ferizolli, 20, will serve 16.

There are now five members of the group in prison, after its founder and cameraman Danh Van Le was sentenced to nine months in March for his part in the art gallery stunts, as well as for organising an unrelated prank involving a fake bomb.

The hoaxes took place a week after terrorists attacked a tourist resort in Tunisia, killing 30 Britons, when London police were on high alert for terror threats.

Detective Constable Anthony Parker, from the Met's Public Order Crime Team, said: "The actions of these five men was outrageous. To go into busy public places wearing masks shouting and screaming at a time of heightened awareness of the terrorism threat facing the UK is deplorable.

"The group terrified those visiting the galleries. It is only by pure chance that no one was injured or suffered serious health issues as they fled in what the judge described as a 'stampede'.

"All five men now have a number of weeks in jail to consider just how unfunny their stunts actually were."