A man admitted to sending a “grossly offensive” video of a cardboard model of the Grenfell Tower burning on fire.
Paul Bussetti, 49, sounded sirens and said that “this happens when you don’t pay the rent” in the video, which caused outrage after it was widely circulated online.
The father of two pleaded guilty to the Westminster Magistrates’ Court on Wednesday and received a suspended sentence.
He was released from publishing the video in August 2019, but prosecutors appealed the verdict and the Supreme Court ordered a retrial.
Bussetti sent the video to WhatsApp after shooting it at a friend’s garden party in November 2018.
Footage of cardboard figures burning as the model caught fire has been widely criticized following the 2017 fire in West London that killed 72 people.
Busetti was sentenced to 10 weeks in prison, suspended for two years.
The defendant made sirens
The footage contains direct and indirect references to the residents of Grenfell Tower, the court said.
Comments include “who jumps?”, “Don’t worry, stay in your apartments” and “jump out the window”.
Busetti can be heard saying, “This happens when you don’t pay the rent,” and making sirens.
As the flames rise up the model building, one of the people wonders if they should have put the fire tower upside down because the fire started on the 10th floor.
One man shouted “jump out the window” while another offered the fireman’s original advice before the scale of the tragedy was understood, saying “Stay in your apartments”.
Bussetti sent the video to two groups on WhatsApp – one related to football and one for a holiday group.
Image: The Grenfell Tower crash is one of the worst fires in UK history
National outrage
The video was widely circulated, leading to a public outcry following one of the worst tower fires and disasters in the UK.
A statement on the victim’s impact, read in court on behalf of Grenfell’s victims, said: “The general reaction of the Grenfell community was shock, horror and outrage.
Khadija Mamoudou, whose mother and younger brother escaped the blaze, told the video earlier: “Their actions have upset so many people around the world and they have to think long and hard.
“When a person is ignorant of the world and the people around him, he does the most stupid and vile things.”
Theresa May, prime minister during the fire in June 2017, was among those who criticized the video, calling it “completely unacceptable.”
Sajid Javid said the survivors of the tragedy deserve to be treated with “the utmost respect”.
Image: Theresa May called the video “completely unacceptable”
Busetti: “It was awful”
Busetti turned himself in to police when the footage went viral, the court heard.
He allegedly told police, “It was all over the TV, so we decided it was better to tell the truth.”
“It was awful, definitely offensive to people, it was just complete nonsense, one of those stupid moments.”
Busetti, through his lawyer, told the court that he did not intend to insult, but rather to make fun of his own friends.
Condemning Bussetti, Chief Magistrate Paul Goldspring said he was “horrified” when he saw the film.
“It was disgusting, it was disrespectful, it was disgusting and it was – by the nature of the accusation – grossly insulting,” he said.
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