Vandal spared jail over toilet graffiti
A 22-year-old vandal who caused more than £3,000 worth of damage during a graffiti spree in Bath city centre has been spared jail.
Joseph Dyke, of Bloomfield Road, appeared at Bath Magistrates' Court for sentencing after pleading guilty to 14 charges of criminal damage, which all took place on June 13 and 14 this year.
He was caught red-handed after staff at the Green Park Tavern, in Lower Bristol Road, spotted graffiti in the men's toilets and then noticed Dyke had black paint on his fingers.
After his arrest, police were able to match his design in the pub to a number of other drawings on buildings throughout the centre of Bath.
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He had been warned that a prison sentence was a possibility, because of a previous similar conviction back in 2009, involving 49 graffiti offences.
However, magistrates instead decided to impose a community order, which included Dyke being placed on curfew and wearing an electronic tag.
He also had to pay £150 compensation to the Green Park Tavern.
The rest of the vandalism was cleaned up by Bath and North East Somerset Council.
Comments
by BV_BV
Friday, November 09 2012, 5:21PM
“I hope he has learnt his lesson. I know the rest of us have!”
by aurea_flamma
Friday, November 09 2012, 3:26PM
“To be fair he has done well to find any public toilets in Bath!”
by tomsjan
Friday, November 09 2012, 9:41AM
“Should have made him clean toilets for a year!”
by Hamaliel
Thursday, November 08 2012, 10:59PM
“63 offences.
No punishment of any significance.
Hmmmm.”
by jezer
Thursday, November 08 2012, 9:15PM
“I quite agree. Why can't they be charged directly from their wages or benefits for the full cost of their misdemeanours? Why should the taxpayer always have to cover the costs of these prats?”
by MasterEpic
Thursday, November 08 2012, 9:06PM
“I think the real crime here is, ' who is charging and being paid for out of public funds £3,000 for a bit of cleaning and/or painting', why not make the guilty party responsible for cleaning it all off.”
by jezer
Thursday, November 08 2012, 8:38PM
“When will these morons face proper justice?”
by Roji33
Thursday, November 08 2012, 8:32PM
“So how does Banksy get away with it?”
by Trick76
Thursday, November 08 2012, 6:31PM
“With reference to the the last line of this story... At Tax Payer's Expense!!! Sigh...”