Teen tagger locked up for 28 days

THE TAGGER: A self-styled "bomber", Ford Randell, 18, was convicted of tagging three businesses and a concrete pillar. His lawyer said in court that Randell knew his behaviour was "stupid and pathetic". He was jailed for 28 days.

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A judge has jailed a graffiti vandal for 28 days and warned others in Hawke's Bay they can expect the same from now on.

Orchard worker Ford Randell, 18, appeared before Judge Tony Adeane in Hastings District Court for sentencing on four charges of intentional damage yesterday.

Randell had been in custody on the charges for five days, and his lawyer Roger Phillip asked for a sentence of community work.

He said Randell was remorseful and had described his own tagging of three buildings and a concrete pillar in Hastings as "stupid and pathetic".

The offending took place between January 1 and when Randell was arrested on March 16.

The judge said taggers were giving Hastings the appearance of a North American slum and rejected suggestions that graffiti was art or culture. "If it's art, why aren't the artists out doing it in broad daylight?" he said. "It is covert, criminal behaviour."

He said the sentence was "a signal to you and your friends that the penalty for graffiti in Hawke's Bay will be imprisonment until such time as there is some sign this self-indulgent egocentric behaviour is abating".

Before sentencing Randell the judge asked if anyone in court had anything to say. Randell's father, Peter stood up, apologising for speaking out: "I don't think he deserves to be in jail. He did the offences, I appreciate that."

The judge replied: "I'm afraid we've come to the end of the line."

He said: "He is a tagger and he has chosen to assert himself or make his statement by going around wilfully damaging other people's property."

Randell was also ordered to pay $1092.45 in reparation.

Last November Judge Adeane sent Napier tagger Randall Grey, 19, to prison for two nights after he pleaded guilty to causing $2042 damage to Taradale properties.

Grey has since been convicted of theft and is in custody awaiting sentence on both matters.

In January Judge Adeane sentenced Onj Matete-Wilkie, of Gisborne, to 42 days' jail for tagging Kaiti School.

OfficeMax in St Aubyns St was one of three businesses tagged by Randell. Store manager Michelle Green said the sentence was a great result. "It sends an example to all other taggers."

She said the premises had been tagged several times this year."We left a small tag to deter others and they appeared to leave us alone for a while," she said. "Then we got tagged again. It's like they're trying to own the building."

Peter Randell said later that he did not condone his son's behaviour, and even believed a few days in prison might be a good thing. "But 28 days for spraying a bit of paint around is too much," he said.

"I know what the judge was trying to do and I respect that. But what he's done is not good for anyone. Five days in prison is fair enough. Let him see what it's like. But 28 days? People who hit their wives get less than that, drink-drivers get less than that."

He said graffiti was a way young people could try to be noticed. "Many come from broken families, and most of those families used to work at the Tomoana and Whakatu [freezing] works that were doing well until the works closed."

He said his son, who worked at Watties, was a kind boy who was good at sports and art. He thought he had moved on from tagging.

"The first I knew is when I got a text from him last week telling me he was going to prison. He'd been too ashamed to tell us he'd even been caught," Mr Randell said.

He said he had encouraged him to paint on canvas and hoped he could get on an art course.

He said he was not a tagger, but a "bomber" - bombers paint large shapes in bright colours; taggers just leave a mark in one colour.

Wanganui Mayor Michael Laws' offer of $500 for information after vandals tagged the city's library has led to a phone calls naming the alleged taggers. The Alexander Heritage and Research Library was hit at the weekend.

- © Fairfax NZ News