A south London man who distributed a “grossly offensive” video of the burning of a Grenfell Tower effigy which prompted public outrage has been handed a 10-week suspended prison sentence.
Paul Bussetti, 49, was among a group of friends who watched a cardboard model of the tower block going up in flames at a bonfire party in November 2018, with the video going viral when it was posted online.
Bussetti, from South Norwood, stood trial and was cleared by a judge, but the Court of Appeal ordered a retrial after a rare challenge from the CPS.
At Westminster magistrates court on Wednesday morning, Bussetti pleaded guilty to distributing the video to friends on two WhatsApp group, risking that it would be shared more widely, and he accepted the incident was “grossly offensive”.
Sentencing Bussetti to a 10-week prison sentence suspended for two years, Chief Magistrate Paul Goldspring said he was “horrified” when he saw the video and read about the case.
“It is worth reflecting on what happened at Grenfell - 72 people lost their lives”, he said.
“There’s very little, I’m afraid, to mitigate the overall impact of what you did. It was disgusting, disrespectful, abhorrent, and by the nature of the charge, it was grossly offensive.
“It was not just grossly offensive to those that died and the wider community. I suspect it was offensive to almost everyone who has an ounce of decency about them.”
The judge added: “What struck me and horrified me was not one person at that party seemed remotely upset, outraged, or embarrassed by the racist remarks.”
Prosecutor Ed Brown QC told the court the video had “gone viral” when it emerged on YouTube, heaping more misery and trauma on the Grenfell Tower survivors and bereaved relatives.
“The reaction of the Grenfell community was one of shock, horror and outrage”, he said.
“The racist remarks and joking depicted caused great offence and was perceived by some of the community as inciting hatred and was a directed attack towards them and the wider community.
“The recording was seen to be making a mockery of what people had been through at the time when many was seeking to make a recovery from the fire itself.
“The recording brought back many feelings from the time of the fire, and triggered memories of the fire.”
The video was taken at an annual bonfire night event attended by a group of friends, and Bussetti was not the one who made the effigy of the tower. However he admitted being one of two people who shot a video of the fire, which included comments mocking the depicted people on the side, referring to a ‘ninja’ and a ‘P***’.
As flames engulf the effigy, one person comments: “That’s what happens when you don’t pay the rent”, while another figure is mocked for “hanging” on to the side of the building.
Bussetti and others handed themselves in to police when the video sparked outrage, but he denied committing a crime when his case came to trial.
Asked why he had filmed it, Bussetti told police: “I have no idea” and called it “one of those stupid moments”.
“It’s just sick, there was no purpose. Just a horrible video”, he said, adding that he was “not going to blame it on the drink”.
Bussetti, from South Norwood, pleaded guilty to sending an offensive communication, under the 2003 Communications Act.
Mark Summers QC, representing Bussetti, said he admits “being reckless” by sharing the video of the effigy burning on two private WhatsApp groups.
“It was not the defendant’s intention to cause gross offence, his intention was to make mock his own friends, privately”, he said.
He added that the video which went viral online was not necessarily the one shot by Bussetti, but included the same offensive content.
In a basis of plea, Bussetti denied making an explicitly racist comment, and he said he had not known about the Grenfell effigy in advance. The bonfire party also did not take place at his home.
“He has spent three years deeply regretting the events of that night”, added Mr Summers.
At his original trial, racist content from WhatsApp groups Bussetti were in were aired publicly.
He said the video of the effigy burning was shared with people he thought “understood the joke”, saying: “The majority of the people in that (WhatsApp) group were at the party, they all found it funny, we all found it funny.”
Chief Magistrate Paul Goldspring ordered Bussetti to carrying out 120 hours of community service as part of his suspended prison sentence.
