A co-founder of YouTube pranksters Trollstation has been jailed for nine months after a series of videos involving bomb hoaxes and fake robberies in London.

Cameraman Danh Van Le, 31, was sentenced at Inner London Crown Court yesterday after admitting a series of offences.

Van Le, known to fans as DigiDan, filmed the hoax bomb stunt with a teenager, approaching people in the capital, showing them a clock inside a briefcase before dropping it and running away.

Two other stunts near the National Portrait Gallery and the Tate, saw fake robbers with tights over their heads holding up paintings.

Van Le admitted one count of placing a hoax bomb with intent and was given a 24-week sentence.

He also pleaded guilty to using threatening, abusive or insulting words or behaviour, and was given a further 12-week sentence to run consecutively.

Trollstation have become infamous since they started posting their stunts in 2013, racking up 700,000 followers on their YouTube channel.

Recently their pranks have focussed on “social experiments”, often filmed on the Tube with members of the group performing outrageous scenarios to see how people react.

A video published at this month’s Million Women Rise event at Trafalgar Square where a woman appeared to have a bottle smashed over her head was heavily criticised by domestic violence groups.

But Trollstation member Light, speaking on behalf of the group, drew a comparison between DigiDan’s bomb stunt and the recent filming of a bus being blown up for a Jackie Chan film.

He said: “They can’t have notified everyone in the area but there were no ramifications for their actions.

“He shouldn’t have ended up in prison. Obviously it didn’t go how we wanted, we’d never want anyone to go to prison.”

He said: “Basically, he’s not a dangerous person. He’s not harmful to the public in any way. He made a mistake.”

Light, who claims viewers have praised the group for raising awareness of difficult issues, said the group would be adapting their methods for future stunts.