Ally Law and Ryan Taylor: YouTubers broke into Big Brother house
- Published
Ally Law (left) and Ryan Taylor (right) deny trespassing at the Celebrity Big Brother house in January
Two YouTube pranksters who filmed themselves breaking into the Celebrity Big Brother house during a live eviction show have been convicted.
Ally Law and Ryan Taylor were arrested at the TV studio in Hertfordshire in January amid fears of a terrorist incident, magistrates were told.
It was the second time in a week they had sneaked into the studio, St Albans Magistrates' Court heard.
The pair were found guilty of two charges of aggravated trespass.
Law, 21, of Hepworth Close, Southampton, has nearly 2.2m subscribers on YouTube, while 25-year-old Taylor, of Lichfield Road, Bloxwich, has more than 1.5m.
Comedian Dapper Laughs, actress Jess Impiazzi, Love Island's Jonny Mitchell and singer Ginuwine were contestants in January's Celebrity Big Brother
A laughing Law had dropped his trousers and jumped into the housemates' hot tub while wearing a GoPro camera, which showed security guards arriving in the garden.
Footage of the guards shouting at him to get out was played in court, with a female security guard eventually jumping in to pull Law out of the water.
Housemates on the Channel 5 show, including dancer Wayne Sleep, actress Jess Impiazzi and Boyzone's Shane Lynch, were put into lockdown as metal shutters rolled over the windows on 26 January.
'Provide entertainment'
Law and Taylor were wearing GoPro cameras as they climbed over the fence and made their way along a set of outside walkways, staircases and scaffolding at the back of the set.
A TV clip was played to the court of the moment during an eviction announcement when some housemates alerted Big Brother the intruders were outside.
In a police interview, Law said his only intention was to provide "entertainment" and apologised for "any fear" he might have caused.
The previous week the pair had also filmed themselves as they climbed staircases, ladders and fire escapes and eventually managed to get into the house's loft.
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Prosecutor Clinton Hadgill said security staff only discovered an intrusion had happened on that occasion when live footage of the pair at the house in Elstree was shared on Snapchat.
Taylor said in his police interview that having posted a short clip online from the 19 January intrusion, he had been contacted by the "media" and asked to go back inside.
He said he had been "motivated by money".
Solicitors defending the pair both claimed the intrusion was carried out as a "prank" and fines should be imposed as "actual disruption and harm was quite limited".
The pair are due to be sentenced on 5 March.