Criticism grows for Wolverhampton YouTube prank as 'cement' video viewed 900,000 times
YouTube prankster Jay Swingler will not be charged for firefighters' time after 'cementing' his head inside a microwave.
A video showing an 'idiot' YouTuber 'cementing' his head inside a microwave has been viewed more than 900,000 times, as criticism for the prank continues to grow.
In the video, vlogger Jay Swingler has to be rescued by firefighters after getting his head trapped inside a microwave filled with seven bags of Polyfilla.
The stunt, which happened in Wolverhampton on Wednesday and was published on Swingler's TGFbro YouTube channel yesterday, has already been watched more than 900,000 times and attracted more than 10,000 comments.
WATCH the video here:
West Midlands Fire Service were left 'seriously unimpressed' by the prank but today confirmed that Swingler would not be charged for the call as his life was in danger.
"If we're attending incidents that are YouTube videos where we have people who've been irresponsible those crews are unable to attend those life-risk incidents," Station Commander Simon Woodward said.
"The service charge for that would be £650. We're not going to charge because his life was in danger.
"What I'd like to do is remind everybody not to put their lives at risk for the sake of other people's entertainment."
Although more than 118,000 people have liked the video on YouTube, many loyal fans condemned the stunt, with Evvo98 writing: "How were you expecting to get it off, I'm a big fan and I love your content but there's a line and this is just stupid."
"What an absolute waste of tax payers money sending for an ambulance and fire brigade maybe its time to grow up lads," read another comment liked 82 times, while others simply labelled the former Castle High School pupil 'stupid' and 'idiotic'.
WATCH the fire service respond to Polyfilla prank:
Despite being 'very apologetic' to the fire service, Swingler appeared to be aware of the danger before the prank began, saying in the video: "This is the day where I probably kill myself."
The 10-minute film shows Swingler mixing the Polyfilla in a bucket, tipping the paste into the microwave and putting a plastic bag over his head before plunging it into the quick-setting paste.
Although he had an air tube fed into his mouth through a hole in the bag, Swingler soon found it difficult to breathe and his friends set to work trying to free him.
After 90 minutes of trying to break up the Polyfilla with a spoon, knife and electric drill, one of the friends called 999 and asked for help from the fire and ambulance services.
The emergency crews arrived at the garage in Fordhouses within five minutes and - after a video call with technical rescue experts, attempts to dismantle the microwave and more chiselling with a screwdriver and hammer - Swingler was eventually freed.
"I've never appreciated life so much ever," the 22-year-old proclaimed.
"Thank you very very much to the paramedics and the fire brigade for helping me get out."
Shaun Dakin, Watch Commander of the Fallings Park fire crew who dealt with the call, said: "As funny as this sounds, this young man could quite easily have suffocated or have been seriously injured.
"All of the group involved were very apologetic, but this was clearly a call-out which might have prevented us from helping someone else in genuine, accidental need."
Meanwhile the barrage of online criticism has continued.
"Bill him for total cost of all involved, stupidity of youth," wrote Steve Norton on Facebook, while John Hill added: "Just think what that cost the emergency service."
Another critical YouTube fan said: "Usually I love your videos, but wasting emergency services time is just such a d*** move."
And Matthew Betts wrote: "Love ya videos Jay but this was beyond stupid.. put your own life at risk and took services away from somebody that needed them more fella !!!"
TGFbro regularly post similar pranks to their YouTube channel, which has more than 3 million subscribers.
With a mission statement saying: "We have no set content that we post, we just post anything retarded and cool that we wanna do," recent stunts include burying their bodies in expanding foam, lying in concrete, and sitting in jelly.
With more than 490 million total views since the channel was created in 2012, it is likely Swingler and fellow vlogger Romell Henry make hundreds of thousands of pounds a year from the channel.
