A graffiti artist is behind bars accused of being the vandal behind the infamous Pam The Bird cartoon which has defaced a string of prime sites around Melbourne.
Jack Gibson-Burrell, 21, of Yarraville, is charged with scrawling with his childish cartoon bird graffiti over some beloved city buildings and structures for years.
Gibson-Burrell was arrested on Thursday and now faces more than 50 charges, including criminal damage, burglary, shop theft and theft of a motor vehicle.
In one incident, police allege Gibson-Burrell scaled and defaced the heritage-listed Flinders Street station clock tower on July 10 last year.
It’s further alleged he is also responsible for graffiti plastered across the rail network as well as the ‘Cheese Stick’ column on CityLink, the Nine building in Docklands, and concrete silos on Mercer Street in Geelong.
Just weeks ago Pam the Bird appeared on the top of the Novotel Hotel on Collins Street in Melbourne’s CBD.
A clip shared to social media showed Pam the Bird coloured in black underneath the sprawling Novotel logo.
The words ‘He He Meow’ was written below the beak of the bird.
The alleged vandal appeared in Melbourne Magistrates’ Court on Friday where he attempted to be released on bail.
The alleged graffiti has divided Melburnians, with some likening it to the UK’s Banksy artist or the street art in the city’s famed laneways, while others see it as vandalism.
‘This is disgraceful,’ one person wrote.
‘Sick of seeing this c**p all over Melbourne!’ another said.
‘It’s not art, why is everyone liking this? It’s property damage for the sake of it,’ a third added.
The January 20 defacement of the Novotel is included among the swag of charges against Gibson-Burrell.
Police estimate the total damage from Gibson-Burrell’s offending reaches more than $100,000.
He has also been charged over an incident in Footscray where an allegedly stolen car was driven through the front window of Nando’s in Barkly Street in December.
Police executed search warrants on Thursday at homes in Yarraville and Abbotsford, where they seized multiple items including spray paint, illegal fireworks, abseiling equipment and property suspected to be the proceeds of crime.
Detective Senior Constable Scott Nicholls told the court Gibson-Burrell had been the only person in Australia ever caught painting Pam the bird, alleging every piece of graffiti featuring the bird was painted by him alone.
‘The accused is currently one of the most prominent graffito artists in Australia. He’s a notorious vandal and is known to graffiti a distinct cartoon bird alongside the tag Pam,’ he told the court.
‘The accused engages in what is described as high volume offending. It is a certainty that he will continue to offend at a high frequency.’
Senior Constable Nicholls alleged no-one else was responsible for Pam the bird across Melbourne.
‘He is the only person known to police to have engaged in painting this distinct graffiti and is also the only person to be found guilty of painting the bird,’ he said.
Matthew Raoul White, 39, of Abbotsford has also been charged with more than 20 criminal damage offences relating to the graffiti of suburban trains and the Docklands office building.
Like Banksy, Pam the Bird has developed a strong following across social media with people tagging the bird whenever they spot the graffiti.
Banksy is the pseudonym of an England-based street artist, political activist, and film director whose real name and identity remain unconfirmed and the subject of speculation.
The court heard Gibson-Burrell is alleged to be operating an Instagram page that shows a masked vandal which police allege is him at work on Pam the Bird imagery.
One photograph shows a masked person lounging on what appears to be the inside of the Flinders Street Station clock.
Another video shows him pouring milk over his head while standing in front of Pam graffiti on a Melbourne train.
The page includes newspaper articles about the bird vandalism across heritage buildings, which he gleefully mocks.
Following an in depth story in The Age newspaper about the artwork, a Pam appeared on the Channel 9 building that houses the newspaper’s offices in the Docklands, with the words ‘something to report about’.
His bail hearing was told, Gibson-Burrell was previously charged in 2023 when he was caught spray painting a ‘Pam the Bird’ inside the City Loop.
He escaped without conviction due to his youth.
A bail decision is expected to be made next week.
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