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Man in court over Grenfell effigy video says it was joke about friends
Court clears man over video of Grenfell Tower model being burned
(about 4 hours later)
The burning of a model of Grenfell Tower on a bonfire was a joke about a group of friends, not about the 72 people who lost their lives in the blaze, according to the man who filmed the footage.
A man has been cleared of a criminal offence over a video that showed a model of a building marked “Grenfell Tower” being burned, while a group of friends laughed and joked.
Speaking at Westminster magistrates court, Paul Bussetti claimed the video – shot at an annual party held by a friend – was considered “funny” by those involved. He said it was not intended to be about the victims of the 2017 fire. Bussetti, 47, is on trial accused of sending a “grossly offensive” video on WhatsApp and causing footage of a “menacing character” to be uploaded on YouTube. On Thursday, while giving evidence, the married father of two told the court it was “certainly not the case” that the figures in the cardboard model, which had “Grenfell Tower” written on it, were meant to be those who died in the fire.
England’s chief magistrate, Emma Arbuthnott, called the handling of the case against 47-year-old Paul Bussetti “appalling” after evidence was disclosed to the defence just as she was retiring to consider her verdict on Thursday.
A video showing the effigy being set alight in a garden prompted outrage when it was shared widely online. It was branded “vile” by a relative of one of the victims of the disaster. In the footage, which was played in court, laughter can be heard, as the model was burned in front of a group of around 30 people at the gathering on 3 November.
More than 70 people died in the tragedy in west London in 2017, one of the UK’s worst peacetime disasters. Bussetti was accused of sending “grossly offensive” video footage, which was taken in his friend’s garden at a bonfire party in 2018.
Prosecutor Philip Stott told the trial that a comment on the video referring to a “ninja”, is believed to have been about a figure in the tower which was all in black and wearing what looked like a niqab. The prosecution says the footage, showing black and brown cardboard figures inside the building and some hanging off as if falling from it, is racist in its content. But Bussetti, giving evidence, said the characters were jokey images of his associates, including the black-clad figure. He said this was supposed to represent his friend’s son who did martial arts and had been referred to during his childhood as “ninja”.
The prosecution argued that the video, which showed the model of the tower with black and brown cardboard figures of people inside as it burned, was racist in nature. While the court heard he had used racial epithets in private chats, Bussetti denied holding racist views.
His lawyer, Mark Summers QC, asked him: “Who were the subjects of the tower joke?” Bussetti answered: “The majority of people that were at the party.” Asked what the joke was about, he replied: “About us.” Bussetti said he shared the footage with two WhatsApp groups of around 20 people because one featured many of those at the party and the other had people who knew his friends. He told the court he intended the footage to go no further than the groups: “It was funny. Everyone knew it was funny.”
Footage had been shared to private groups on WhatsApp and found its way into the public domain. It was criticised as “vile” by a relative of one of the victims of the disaster.
Bussetti, from South Norwood, south-east London, said the effigy had been made by his friend Steve Bull. The defendant added that he himself had featured in the tower model, sporting big ears which had earned him the nickname “Pluggy”, but it was not visible in the video.He said that the media and TV put “their stuff on it”, rejecting any suggestion that those in the model were meant to be the people who had died.Stott put it to Bussetti that he had sent the footage to both groups because it was in keeping with the sort of “highly racist” content that had previously been shared within them. Bussetti said: “I found it funny because the people in the cardboard box were us. That’s just banter that’s going on.” Asked by Stott if he was racist, Bussetti said: “No.” He explained that he had “panicked” when he saw the footage go viral, and had deleted the video from one of the chat groups while deleting the other chat group entirely.
Bussetti claimed it was a joke and that the characters were actually misunderstood references to him and his friends. Giving evidence at Westminster magistrates court on Thursday, he said it was “certainly not the case” that the figures in the cardboard model, which had “Grenfell Tower” written on it, were meant to be those who died in the fire.
He said he had not mentioned to police during two interviews that the people in the tower were him and his friends because he was “scared” and “nervous”. When he voluntarily attended a station two days after the bonfire he told officers the video was “sick” and “horrible” and had no purpose.
He was found not guilty following his two-day trial when it was revealed, after the prosecution and defence had closed their cases, that two other people had told police the figures were of the defendant and his friends, rather than those who died in the fire.
The trial continues.
Mark Summers QC, defending Bussetti, said his team had not previously been made aware of a second piece of footage and it was unclear who had shot and distributed it. He argued that the existence of the additional video meant there was “absolutely no way” to know which piece of footage had made its way onto YouTube and gone viral.
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Arbuthnot said: “I am just appalled at the disclosure in this case,” adding that it was “highly unsatisfactory to say the least”.
Acquitting Bussetti, she said: “I cannot be sure the video relied on by the Crown is the one taken by the defendant.” She added that she could not be sure the figures on the tower were not meant to be the defendant and his friends, imagery that she said was “in colossal bad taste”.
