A convicted BRITISH pedophile who allegedly arranged a fake wedding with a nine-year-old girl at Disneyland Paris has accused fellow inmates of setting fire to his mattress while he was in custody.
Jaskarn “Jacky” Jhaj, 40, from Feltham, west London, was previously convicted in 2016 of sexual activity with two 15-year-old girls.
Police at the time described him as a “dangerous sexual predator.”
He has been on the sex offenders register since then and is wanted in the UK for breaching both a Sexual Harm Prevention Order and a Sex Offenders Register notification requirement.
Jhaj was arrested in France after allegedly paying £111,000 to organize a fake wedding at Disneyland Paris.
The lavish event featured live musicians, a wedding cake and chairs for hundreds of guests.
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Police were alerted by a man who claimed he was paid £10,500 to play the “father of the bride”.
He told investigators he only realized “at the last minute” that the bride was a girl.
The girl, a Ukrainian minor, had arrived in France just two days before the ceremony.
Posing as a 22-year-old boyfriend, Jhaj allegedly hired professional makeup artists to disguise his appearance.
According to sources in Paris, footage showed guests waiting while a trio of violins played before park staff noticed the “scared and confused” young woman wearing a wedding dress and four-inch heels taped to her feet.
The fake guests were reportedly recruited online through advertisements seeking “200 adults and 100 children ages five to 15 to perform in the crowd at a classy, elegant wedding rehearsal.”
Apparently, each person was paid 200 euros.
Disneyland Paris said Le Parisian The event was immediately shut down and guests were prevented from entering the park.
Prosecutor Jean-Baptiste Bladier confirmed that Jhaj is also being investigated for “corruption of a minor.”
He said Jhaj “dressed up to play the role of the groom, having put on professional make-up”.
Authorities say Jhaj used false documents and the identity of a Latvian citizen to secure the reservation at Disneyland.
The girl’s mother was later arrested, and reports claimed she wanted her daughter to feel like a Disney “princess” for a day.
However, it was revealed that Jhaj had been in contact with the family for over a year, sending them money and gifts and even paying for a family vacation.
The French prosecutor said the young woman had not been subjected to “physical or sexual violence” and had not been “forced to play the role of girlfriend.”
Jhaj is currently awaiting trial in France on separate charges of fraud, breach of trust, money laundering and identity theft.
Authorities are conducting forensic analysis of computers and mobile phones as part of their investigation.
His lawyer, Etienne Arnaud, attempted to secure bail of £26,000 and judicial supervision, but the request was denied.
Although his detention was not supposed to extend beyond October 23, the trial judge extended it due to Jhaj’s criminal record in England.
During a hearing at the Meaux judicial court, Arnaud requested a closed-door session to exclude the press, in which he claimed that Jhaj had been a “victim of violence” by other inmates, including an incident in which his mattress was set on fire.
“June 21 was simply the shooting of a film. My client was one of the actors. He was in no way the organizer,” Arnaud said.
“And he was not the one who financed the filming. We are trying to invent crimes that amount to nothing.”
The hearing was temporarily suspended when it emerged that Jhaj could not speak French, before resuming via video call.
The court ruled that he would remain detained for at least four more months.
This is not the first time Jhaj has staged disturbing stunts involving children.
In 2023, he staged a fake red carpet event in Leicester Square, recruiting 90 children and dozens of teenagers to act as fans.
The teenage girls told the BBC that they were ordered to scream and try to touch him, without knowing his true identity.
The organizer – “BRT Project” – hired 90 children between 6 and 14 years old through the agency Jam 200, and another 100 young women between 16 and 24 years old through Universal Extras.
Jhaj was subsequently arrested on suspicion of breaching a sexual harm prevention order and released on bail.
In September 2024, he allegedly staged another stunt: an explosion using an old BBC truck and Union Jack-covered vehicles, filming himself naked as flames erupted behind him.
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The incident sparked widespread panic and hundreds of emergency calls from locals fearing a terrorist attack.
Probation officers have repeatedly warned that Jhaj poses a risk to the girls’ care, while investigators continue to question how he financed his elaborate productions and who foots the bill for the large casts and crews he employs.
