TikTok prankster Mizzy banned from using social media after posting videos without consent
26 October 2023, 16:46 | Updated: 26 October 2023, 18:52
The social media menace has been banned using from social media after he was found to have "deliberately flouted" a court order given in May.
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Mizzy, whose real name is Bacari-Bronze O'Garro, has been found guilty of posting videos without the consent of the people featured, after standing trial at Stratford Magistrates Court in East London.
Judge Matthew Bone said O'Garro had "deliberately flouted" a court order prohibiting him from sharing videos of people without their consent "within hours" of it being passed on 24 May.
Judge Bone, overseeing the 19-year-old's trial on Thursday, slammed O'Garro for "lacking all credibility" after he denied four counts of breaching the order.
He ordered O'Garro to not use social media "at all" except to send messages until he is sentenced in November.
The father-of-one was then warned that he could go to prison for the committed offences.
This comes after O'Garro's defence lawyer Paul Lennon revealed to the court earlier on Thursday that his client had been arrested on suspicion of perverting the course of justice.
Mr Lennon attempted to adjourn the case but the request was turned down by the judge.
The father of one's main witness was due to give evidence on Thursday but has also been arrested.
Both were arrested and released on bail under the condition they do not contact each other.
Mr Lennon said his client would not be able to have a "fair trial" without that evidence.
The defence lawyer told the court: "It was hoped that the sole witness in his (O'Garro) favour would be able to attend court to provide evidence in support of the defence.
Read more: TikTok menace Mizzy spotted trashing Primark with band of followers on Oxford Street
"That is no longer possible", he said.
"Last week Mr O'Garro and his first and only witness were arrested on suspicion of perverting the course of justice.
"Both were released on bail with the condition not to contact each other directly or indirectly.
"Had he (the witness) not been arrested on a very serious allegation he would have been here to give evidence on behalf of Mr O'Garro.
"It was hoped as of yesterday that the matter would not be proceeded with.
"Instead, he (O'Garro) was bailed until January 2024."
However, Judge Matthew Bone rejected the defence's submission and the trial proceeded.
He told the court: "The witness's unavailability was known on or before October 16.
"I am not prepared to adjourn this case.
"The trial will proceed today."
O'Garro's case was previously adjourned at the same court after he was accused of partaking in further "criminal activities".
This added to another submission by prosecution and defence lawyers at a hearing in September.
Rabbi on TikToker Mizzy
The court was shown footage that O'Garro posted on X/Twitter where he filmed inside Westfield shopping centre in Stratford, where people can be seen in the background.
This happened after the TikToker appeared in Piers Morgan's TalkTV show and mocked the British judicial system.
In the video, Mizzy said to the camera: "The UK law is a joke."
At 10:50, he posted a second video, titled Sainsbury's Security Are Slow, where he was riding an electric bike at speed through the shop before breaking into the stock room and dodging staff.
He then fled the scene and zoomed down shopping aisles.
At one point, he narrowly missed a woman and her baby in a pram.
Two days later, he posted a video titled I Finally Got A Job, which showed the TikToker cycling through a job centre.
Staff had attempted to stop him but O'Garro said: "Oh, I can't ride a bike here? I didn't know."
O'Garro claimed that one of his friends, who had access to his login details, posted the videos on Twitter without his consent.
Other videos shared on O'Garro's Snapchat account showed him grabbing hold of a schoolboy by his uniform and a second showing a man with dwarfism attacking him which O'Garro claimed were hoax videos made with their prior agreement.
The tearaway has also filmed himself engaging in other intrusive acts, such as walking into strangers' homes, riding on top of buses and stealing a dog.
During the trial, Judge Bone said: "I have to say I did not accept the evidence of the defendant - it lacked all credibility.
"Within hours of the criminal behaviour order he posed (in Westfield) stating the video would be shared and it was.
"The defendant was filmed trying to shake a man's hand from whom consent was not obtained.
"He had just appeared on national television saying the British law was weak.
"I found it to be an intentional, immediate and deliberate challenge to the criminal behaviour order.
"Dealing again with charge four, two people were roughed up on camera by the defendant - I found his behaviour was again a deliberate challenge to the criminal behaviour order."
Judge Bone found O'Garro not guilty on two further counts of the same charge, ruling that the videos in question may already have been shared before the criminal behaviour order was passed.
However, he warned O'Garro: "The defendant shouldn't take much comfort from that.
"What I have convicted him of crosses the custody threshold.
"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.
"You need to understand that you deliberately flouted this court order within hours of it being made."
O'Garro will be sentenced on November 21 at Thames Magistrates Court.
