A TIKTOK prankster who filmed himself pretending to jab strangers with a syringe on the streets of Paris has been jailed.
Amine Mojito — real name Ilan M. — was sentenced to 12 months in prison, with six to be served behind bars.
A Paris court ruled his viral stunt amounted to “violence with a weapon not resulting in work incapacity,” according to French paper Libération.
The 27-year-old was also hit with a €1,500 fine and banned from owning or carrying a weapon for three years.
The influencer posted clips showing him creeping up on passersby and pretending to jab them with a capped syringe – just days before France’s massive Fête de la Musique street festival in June.
The videos went viral, but prosecutors said they also poured fuel on public anxiety over a spate of mysterious syringe assaults sweeping the country.
Online outrage exploded after Mojito’s clips spread.
Prosecutors reportedly branded him a “public menace,” arguing the stunt “knowingly aggravated public outrage in an otherwise volatile context.”
One victim told the court the experience felt “like a nightmare,” especially amid existing health fears.
Mojito claimed it was all a stupid stunt to relaunch his social media career and promote a fitness programme.
“I had the very bad idea of doing these pranks by imitating what I saw on the Internet, in Spain [and] in Portugal,” he told the court, quoted by Libération.
“I didn’t think it could hurt people. That was my mistake, I didn’t think about others, I thought about myself.”
His lawyers begged for leniency, stressing the two months he already spent in pre-trial detention in solitary at Fleury-Mérogis prison.
Attorney Marie Claret de Fleurieu argued the verdict “brings the debate back to more reasonable proportions after the initial media frenzy.”
But the court wasn’t swayed.
The sentence comes after months of needle-related fear across France.
In June, at least 145 festivalgoers — many teenage girls — reported being jabbed by strangers during Fête de la Musique celebrations, according to the French interior ministry.
Some victims fell ill and were rushed to hospital for toxicology tests.
Police arrested 12 people, but have yet to confirm what — if anything — was inside the syringes.
Paris alone saw 13 reported cases, while the southwestern city of Angoulême logged about 50.
In Metz, police used CCTV to track and arrest a suspect accused of stabbing 10 girls.
The bizarre attacks followed disgusting social media calls encouraging people to jab women during the festivities, French media reported.
Authorities said the Mojito videos, though featuring capped syringes, risked normalising and encouraging such assaults.
The prosecution initially demanded 15 months under electronic monitoring, but judges settled on a year with half suspended.
Amine Mojito was also banned from owning or carrying a weapon for three years[/caption]
