Graffiti vandal told to pay £1,000 for clean-up
A PROLIFIC graffiti artist has been told to pay nearly £1,000 for his mess to be cleaned up.
George O'Dea was one of two paint-spraying vandals caught during a police operation to clamp down on the nuisance in Derby.
Magistrates told O'Dea, 21, of Overdale Road, Normanton, he must pay £993 compensation after he pleaded guilty to a charge of criminal damage and asked for 17 similar offences to be taken into consideration.
And Zayell Gillespie, 19, of Essex Street, Chaddesden, was handed a six-month conditional discharge and told to pay a £100 fine and £85 costs after admitting leaving his artwork, called a tag, on a communications box. He denied 34 other similar offences.
Police caught both the men during Operation Quigley, set up to combat the problem of graffiti, which Derby City Council says costs £100,000 a year to clean up.
PC Richard Jones led the operation. He said: "It was difficult as there was very little police intelligence coming through to us. In a way it was like starting from scratch, so to catch and convict O'Dea and Gillespie was a major success for us.
"I know there are many people who see graffiti as artwork, but to me it is a crime that can devalue the area.
"One victim in Derby was trying to sell his house and was constantly being targeted and spent hours washing the graffiti off only to see it return time and time again.
"And then there is the cost to the council-tax payer. I know last year it cost London Underground £12 million."
Two other prolific offenders, whose tags are Vomit and Cozen, are among those still being hunted by the police.
PC Jones said graffiti artists tend to target high walls on public buildings and junction boxes.
He said: "Getting their work sprayed in hard-to-reach places is a challenge for these people and they also go to places out of the way.
"For example, if you go to Derby County's old training ground in Raynesway, some of the buildings there are covered in graffiti."
O'Dea was caught carrying spray cans when he was stopped and searched on November 21. He admitted he had sprayed his tag, AFE, at nearby Rowditch Recreation Ground, in Parcel Terrace.
As well as the fine he was handed a community order and told he cannot leave his home between the hours of 7pm and 7am.
Gillespie, whose tag is Say, admitted vandalising a junction box in Cowsley Road, Chaddesden, in November last year.
Ian Wheatley, head of grounds maintenance and street cleansing at Derby City Council said cleaning graffiti costs the taxpayer £100,000 a year.
He said: "Graffiti is unsightly and can change the public's perception of an area. In some cases, the content can also be offensive.
"We respond to reports by the public and work proactively to remove graffiti."
8 Comments
by ben_sandall
Sunday, February 05 2012, 3:11PM
“Although there isn't a lot going on in Derby, amidst the usual bag-snatchers and life saving sign language users, this is still a poor effort by the constabulary, again, to uphold decency in the City.
Several people have commented about the 'pics of what these lads have done... coz they obviously not talented!"; I'd question how representative the pictures are of their paintings - 17 offences from one artist and 34 from the other and 7 pictures to show the activity.
It's just an inference but I'd opt to say the police or the Derbyshire media (whoever passed the pictures through) chose the 7 most grotty, unattractive and from their point of view, unartistic pictures.
(Considering most of the images depict writing and text it's odd how people commenting on here cannot spell. I'm not a grammar Nazi, just saying)
3 months house arrest and nearly £1000 in fines when there was 'Detectives in spotlight over corruption allegations' less than a month ago... (http://tinyurl.com/7fwghun)
And still, going back a few years! http://tinyurl.com/7grq82m
There's a good chance that the officers in question will get prosecuted but before attacking youngsters who are essentially just taking a hobby to the public, sort out your own police force.
(there was a chart earlier this year (or late last year, i forget) in a national tabloid newspaper that detailed the constabularies in the UK with the highest levels of corruption and criminal records - Derby was in the worst 15%)
Come on, what have they done wrong, really? I can understand that if a private cottage owned by a family of four is sprayed over with a giant penis but they aren't are they - one of those pictures is on a piece of wood, no doubt to be thrown away.
Who builds private property out of wood?”
by ben_sandall
Sunday, February 05 2012, 3:05PM
“Although there isn't a lot going on in Derby, amidst the usual bag-snatchers and life saving sign language users, this is still a poor effort by the constabulary, again, to uphold decency in the City.
Several people have commented about the 'pics of what these lads have done... coz they obviously not talented!"; I'd question how representative the pictures are of their paintings - 17 offences from one artist and 34 from the other and 7 pictures to show the activity.
It's just an inference but I'd opt to say the police or the Derbyshire media (whoever passed the pictures through) chose the 7 most grotty, unattractive and from their point of view, unartistic pictures.
(Considering most of the images depict writing and text it's odd how people commenting on here cannot spell. I'm not a grammar Nazi, just saying)
3 months house arrest and nearly £1000 in fines when there was 'Detectives in spotlight over corruption allegations' less than a month ago... (http://tinyurl.com/7fwghun)
And still, going back a few years! http://tinyurl.com/7grq82m
There's a good chance that the officers in question will get prosecuted but before attacking youngsters who are essentially just taking a hobby to the public, sort out your own police force.
(there was a chart earlier this year (or late last year, i forget) in a national tabloid newspaper that detailed the constabularies in the UK with the highest levels of corruption and criminal records - Derby was in the worst 15%)
Come on, what have they done wrong, really? I can understand that if a private cottage owned by a family of four is sprayed over with a giant penis but they aren't are they - one of those pictures is on a piece of wood, no doubt to be thrown away.
Who builds private property out of wood?”
by thederbypar
Saturday, February 04 2012, 10:20PM
“Make them clean it off and pay £100 the council a day till they have finished,They wont want to spray again!!!”
by JulieFulep
Saturday, February 04 2012, 5:24PM
“From the rubbish they have sprayed, it's clear they are not graffiti artist, but vandals. I agree with Wafty, make them scrub their vandalism off with a toothbrush. That's how the army would have treated yobs like this in my day.”
by Wafty
Saturday, February 04 2012, 11:51AM
“they should pay compensation and be forced to clean up their mess (with a toothbrush!) - and it doesn't help describing these low-life as 'artists' - they are vandals - pure and simple.....”
by Pinkyomg
Saturday, February 04 2012, 11:42AM
“Some graffiti artists are talented and dont always go round vandaliing things, they think of the public and what they love to do and compromise!
But these pics of what these lads have done - clearly there just vandals, coz they obviously not talented!”
by DerbyBorn
Saturday, February 04 2012, 9:11AM
“Do they buy or steal the paint?”
by ibelieveido
Saturday, February 04 2012, 8:59AM
“Spray these clowns Pink in stuff designed to last 12 months
and lets see if they like it...”