Jacky Jhaj

Jacky Jhaj, a 39-year-old British man from Feltham, has been identified as a convicted paedophile arrested in France for orchestrating a disturbing mock wedding ceremony at Disneyland Paris involving a nine-year-old Ukrainian schoolgirl as the bride. The event, planned for Saturday in the theme park at Marne-la-Vallée, involved 100 guests, many of whom were extras, and was intended to be broadcast live on social media. Jhaj reportedly paid £115,000 to stage this bizarre production, deceiving park authorities about its nature.

The ceremony was halted when Disney staff intervened after an actor, hired by Jhaj to play the father of the child bride, alerted police on Saturday morning. Jhaj was arrested alongside the girl's mother, aged 41, a 24-year-old Latvian woman acting as the bride's sister, and a 55-year-old Latvian man. French authorities have charged him with fraud, breach of trust, money laundering, and identity theft. Preliminary investigations revealed that Jhaj had been professionally disguised to alter his appearance significantly, as noted by the French prosecutor. He appeared before a judge in Meaux, north-east of Paris, on Monday.

Jhaj's criminal history includes a 2016 conviction in the UK for sexual activity with two 15-year-old girls, whom he groomed by pretending to be just 21 years old despite being 29 at the time. Described in court as a 'dangerous sexual predator', he was released from prison but has since been wanted by the Metropolitan Police for breaching a Sexual Harm Prevention Order and failing to comply with Sex Offenders' Register requirements. A Metropolitan Police spokesman confirmed: 'A 39-year-old man is wanted by the Met Police for breaching a Sexual Harm Prevention Order and a breach of a Sex Offenders' Register notification requirement. We are aware the man has been arrested in France for other matters and officers are in contact with the French authorities.'

Beyond his conviction, Jhaj has a pattern of staging elaborate and inappropriate stunts involving children. In 2023, he hired hundreds of children, some as young as six, from casting agencies to act as fawning fans at a fake film premiere in London's Leicester Square. Teenage girls involved reported being instructed to scream for him and attempt to touch him, unaware of his identity as a convicted sex offender, according to BBC reports. Last June, he was spotted giving gifts to children outside dance auditions and was recognised by a parent familiar with prior news coverage. Additionally, two months later, Jhaj was filmed posing naked in front of a mocked-up BBC News lorry that had been set on fire in London, though the motives behind these productions and their financing remain unclear.

This latest incident at Disneyland Paris underscores Jhaj's ongoing dangerous behaviour towards children, prompting international cooperation between UK and French authorities to address his violations.