Convicted paedophile blew up fake BBC van in film set explosion
A convicted paedophile organised a film shoot near the O2 Arena featuring a “controlled explosion” that destroyed a fake BBC lorry.
Jacky Jhaj, who was jailed for four years in 2016 for sexual activity with two 15-year-old girls, arranged the stunt that shocked residents and prompted an emergency response.
The explosion occurred on Aug 31 after a previous shoot on Aug 24 was halted when crew discovered Jhaj’s conviction.
The 38-year-old, who is awaiting trial on further charges, has repeatedly posed as a film producer in a series of bizarre stunts.
For his latest project he disguised himself using a prosthetic mask but was recognised when he took it off to film a section of the video.
In mobile phone footage seen by The Telegraph, he is shown an article detailing his crimes by the film crew.
One man who was recruited to take part in the film said that Jhaj “ran away” after being confronted.
After the Aug 24 film shoot was abandoned, Jhaj allegedly offered cash incentives for people to continue filming at a later date.
On Aug 31 the shoot went ahead and Jhaj was filmed standing naked in front of a fake BBC news lorry as an explosion was triggered.
Flicks a cigarette at police car
He was filmed sitting at a typewriter surrounded by hundreds of newspapers before he flicks a cigarette at a police car, a police van and the BBC lorry which all went up in flames.
The BBC previously said it had no “involvement in the event”.
The London Fire Brigade said it sent 25 firefighters and four fire engines to the scene at 7.51pm after residents reported hearing explosions and seeing plumes of smoke.
Police in Newham, east London, said the incident was “part of a pre-planned filming event” and there was no risk to the public.
They added: “It appears this information was not disseminated as widely as it should have been and we are looking at the systems currently in place to establish why this was the case in this instance.”
On Monday, however, a Newham council spokesman said it had not been notified about the film shoot.
It said: “We were not given prior notice, nor do we have any record of permission having been sought, for filming on 31 August. We are liaising closely with the London Fire Brigade and have approached the film agency involved.”
A police spokesman told The Telegraph there was currently no investigation into the incident.
Jhaj, who has a lengthy history of posing as a film producer, is due to stand trial at Isleworth Crown Court on Aug 4 2025 for breaching notification requirements and a sexual harm prevention order.
The sex offender, of Feltham, west London, was jailed after supplying the two 15-year-olds with alcohol and taking them to parties in nearby Hounslow in his silver Range Rover.
He pretended he was 21 and a Hollywood producer before assaulting them.
Elaborate fake funeral
On Oct 17 2023 he staged a fake red carpet event with up to 200 children and young women playing his fans during a fake movie premiere at Leicester Square, central London.
In April, he had used internationally renowned casting platform Backstage to hire child actors in order to stage an elaborate £10,000 fake funeral at the London Oratory.
Father Rupert McHardy, 49, had been booked to conduct the ceremony but when he arrived he realised something was amiss.
He had been told the funeral was being held for Lauris Zaube, a 23-year-old Latvian man who went missing after a New Year’s Eve party near an iced-over dam west of Riga, Latvia.
Jhaj is said to have posed as the missing man’s brother, wearing dark glasses and giving his name as “Clyde”.
Father McHardy cancelled the funeral after the “mourners” revealed that they were actors and began complaining they had not been paid.