WATCH: Lollipop man prank at Helmsdale causes outrage but YouTubers claim they were saving sheep
A YouTuber who caused local uproar after holding up traffic on the A9 at Helmsdale while dressed as a lollipop man says the stunt was done to save a flock of sheep.
Dean Alex posted a video called ‘Stopping traffic on the NC500’ on Thursday, March 27, in which he donned a hi-vis jacket and lollipop sign that were stored in a small cabin on the north side of the village.
In the video, Dean can be seen conversing with one of his friends who was filming the caper for a TikTok video. The group of friends have been touring around Scotland and “doing the NC500 where we try and live off the land”.
As they make their way around the Highlands, the group of travellers are in a campervan and shooting various scenes along with pranks as they travel.
The controversial video caused local outrage when shared on a Facebook page about the NC500, but their many thousands of followers saw the funny side of the prank and appeared to egg them on with one saying that people were taking the matter “far too seriously”.
The video shows Dean entering the empty cabin, donning the lollipop person’s outfit and proceeding to hold up a long line of traffic on the steep hill leading into Helmsdale from the north side of the A9. At least 10 vehicles, headed up by a lorry, could be seen backed up along the length of the hill.
His friend David Crossley said in another video on Instagram that “we set Dean a challenge to stop a car for as long as possible”. While there were many laughter emojis in the comments some failed to see the funny side of the prank.
One YouTube user called @Bren-s1c said: “It's a real shame you did this stunt. Video was quite entertaining until then.
“Being a tourist, you might not have understood the A9 is classed as a priority route as it's the only road serving the entire far north of Scotland. Anyone needing to get anywhere has to use it. Caithness doesn't have a major hospital, everyone has to travel to Inverness (a 3-hour drive usually).
“By holding people up you just added to driver’s journey time, including HGV drivers on limited hours. I live up here and there is a lot of anti-tourist sentiment and stunts like this really don't help. I see from the news the police are now investigating you, hope they don't treat you too harshly as we were all young and foolish once.”
Dean did a follow-up video on Instagram in which he states: “I probably shouldn’t have done it but I did it to save a sheep’s life.”
The friends have been doing other stunts and reaction videos across the Highlands but none have produced as much criticism as the lollipop prank.
Police Scotland initially said it was investigating the matter but provided an updated statement this morning saying: “On Friday, 28 March, we were made aware of videos circulating and concerns raised regarding the actions and manner of driving of a vehicle in the Strathcarron area.
“Enquiries were carried out and no criminality established.”
