Cricket pitch invader Daniel Jarvis has been warned he faces a 'sticky wicket' after being given a suspended sentence following his aggravated trespass charge. Jarvis - more commonly known as 'Jarvo 69' - was found guilty in September after pitch invading at The Oval during England's Test match with India in the summer of 2021.
After making his way onto the field, Jarvis attempted to bowl at the striking batsman Ollie Pope but went on to collide into the non-striker Jonny Bairstow. The 34-year-old - who has over 170,000 subscribers on YouTube - was later arrested.
In his defence, he told the court he had no intention of disrupting the match, but instead carried out the pitch invasion for the 'pleasure' of his viewers.
He said: "I get loads of people saying they have got mental health and my videos make them happy." However, District Judge Daniel Benjamin was unconvinced claimed Jarvis' behaviour was 'wide of the mark'.
When passing sentence the judge said: "Players and sporting officials do not know whether a person crossing the boundary is intent on doing them physical harm. Even if the person is not intent on doing physical harm, as your own conduct shows it is possible for physical contact to be made with a player inadvertently, risking such harm.
"As with any other member of the public, players and officials deserve to feel safe within their workplace. Contrary to your attempts to do otherwise with your YouTube videos, the message needs to go out that wrongly entering the arena at a sporting fixture is not a silly matter. It is so wide of the mark of acceptable behaviour that it will be met with severe sanction by the courts."
Further warning him, judge Benjamin added: "If you fail to comply with any of these requirements you will be in breach of this order, which means that you will be brought back to court and you will be on a sticky wicket because you will be liable to serve the sentence of imprisonment, whether in whole or in part."
The judge also revealed added security measures had now been introduced following Jarvis' actions, and claimed the 34-year-old carried out the invasion not for the good of his viewers, but the public and financial gain of his YouTube channel. "In my judgment your culpability is extremely high," judge Benjamin went on.
"You deliberately set out to disrupt a high-profile sporting event in order to gain publicity for yourself and footage for your own YouTube channel, from which you presumably profited from a small share of the advertising revenue."
