Writing on the Wall
Initially sentenced to three months in goal, graffiti artist Cheyene Back will not spend a single day locked up. The 18-year-old first-time offender was caught by CCTV tagging a wall at Hyde Park Café in January.
The sentence, an attempt by the local magistrate to teach graffiti artists that their art costs the community millions in clean-up bills, backfired when it was appealed due to the severity of the punishment. Judge Greg Hosking dismissed the charges within 10 minutes, and Back, who tagged “2shie” across an area of 60cm, was instead handed a 12-month good behaviour bond.
“It is unusual in the extreme for a woman as young as this, with no criminal convictions, to be sentenced to a term of imprisonment for putting graffiti on a wall, as serious as that matter undoubtedly is,” said Judge Hosking, adding that the media scrutiny Back had endured was punishment enough. “In my view the magistrate was clearly in error sentencing Ms Back to three months imprisonment and that penalty falls completely outside the range of sentencing options.”
Judge Hosking explained he was taking into account legislation that states gaol should only be considered once all other alternatives have been ruled out, and was not condoning graffiti. “People in Sydney are sick of graffiti; there is no doubt about that.”
Back, relieved by the verdict, believes her original sentence was “ridiculous”. She has, however, made her remorse clear. “I’ll never do anything like it again. I would clean it off, I’ll apologise, I’ll do anything.” Back said her time in the cells beneath the court, before her release on bail, taught her a lesson.
This case will leave officers questioning the point of arresting graffiti artists, NSW Police Association’s acting president Scott Weber told Macquarie Radio.
“When we’re looking at all these possible alternatives, why wasn’t she given some community services, or in regards to this why wasn’t she given a job to clean up Hyde Park for three months?” asked Weber.
“They [graffiti artists] are laughing at the police and they’re laughing at the community.”
Back has not commented since her appeal.
– By Nukte Ogun
