Graffiti Artist Jailed for Love

Artist who declared his love in graffiti is jailed




By Melvyn Howe
A GRAFFITI artist who could not resist expressing his love in paint was jailed for two years yesterday.
Raymond Agbegah sprayed trains and stations with the ardent declaration: "I LOVE EMMA".It was the latest in a series of night-time attacks on railway property over nearly a decade, which resulted in hundreds of thousands of pounds' damage.Unfortunately for the IT student, his feelings for his girlfriend were not shared by Southern Trains, South West trains and Network Rail, which had to fund a £32,000-plus clean-up bill.Southwark Crown Court in London heard that the police were eq
ually unimpressed by his multi-coloured expressions of love, some of which were 5ft high and 12ft long.Armed with his girlfriend's name and Agbegah's ongoing fascination with the tag MILK – one that led to a conviction for criminal damage eight years earlier – they needed very little detective work to discover who they were dealing with.Chris Stimpson, prosecuting, said that when officers called at his home, they found him snuggled up in bed with the love of his life, Emma Petts.Helpfully, on the bedside table was an envelope decorated with his distinctive "MILK" tags.The 24-year-old, from south-west London, admitted three counts of criminal damage.Passing sentence, Judge Martin Beddoe said: "You are, frankly, getting too old for this. And what you have done and continue to do does not warrant the love and the care Miss Petts has sought to bestow on you."

Graffiti Artist in Jail for Expressing Love

Artist who declared his love in graffiti is jailed

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By Melvyn Howe
A GRAFFITI artist who could not resist expressing his love in paint was jailed for two years yesterday.
Raymond Agbegah sprayed trains and stations with the ardent declaration: "I LOVE EMMA".It was the latest in a series of night-time attacks on railway property over nearly a decade, which resulted in hundreds of thousands of pounds' damage.Unfortunately for the IT student, his feelings for his girlfriend were not shared by Southern Trains, South West trains and Network Rail, which had to fund a £32,000-plus clean-up bill.Southwark Crown Court in London heard that the police were eq
ually unimpressed by his multi-coloured expressions of love, some of which were 5ft high and 12ft long.Armed with his girlfriend's name and Agbegah's ongoing fascination with the tag MILK – one that led to a conviction for criminal damage eight years earlier – they needed very little detective work to discover who they were dealing with.Chris Stimpson, prosecuting, said that when officers called at his home, they found him snuggled up in bed with the love of his life, Emma Petts.Helpfully, on the bedside table was an envelope decorated with his distinctive "MILK" tags.The 24-year-old, from south-west London, admitted three counts of criminal damage.Passing sentence, Judge Martin Beddoe said: "You are, frankly, getting too old for this. And what you have done and continue to do does not warrant the love and the care Miss Petts has sought to bestow on you."

Graffiti Tagger Punched Cop

Elissa Hunt
March 04, 2008 12:00am
A TEENAGE graffiti vandal who ran amok while his famous opera singer mother was overseas has been fined $800 for punching a Connex officer who caught him defacing a train.
Queenslander Henry Peberdy Johnson, 18, had been boarding or living with his sister for several years while his mother -- internationally acclaimed soprano Lisa Gasteen -- and lawyer father Barry Johnson lived in London.
The teen was arrested after travelling to Melbourne as part of a suspected graffiti syndicate targeting public transport in October last year.
Connex staff saw him and another youth painting a train at Rushall station and he struck an officer in the face during the arrest. The youth with Johnson has not been identified.
Yesterday, Melbourne Magistrates' Court heard Gasteen had turned down offers to sing in Europe so the couple could return to live with him in Queensland.
Defence lawyer Rob Stary said Johnson was without parental supervision at the time and had since done everything possible to redeem himself.
The university student had paid for the damage out of his own pocket and volunteered at a homeless shelter to rehabilitate himself, he said.
Johnson felt he'd disappointed and embarrassed his family and his parents also felt they had let him down, Mr Stary said.
His mother -- who moved to Britain three years ago and had performed around the globe -- was in court to support her son. Johnson pleaded guilty to six charges including criminal damage.
Magistrate Amanda Chambers said Johnson's night in a cell after his arrest had been a wake-up call. She said she took into account his youth, clean record and good references, including one from a Queensland judge that described him as honest but naive and easily led.