News / Crime
Avon Gorge graffiti culprit gets jail term
Seventeen months behind bars. That is the sentence for a man who spray painted “WES” on a rock face in the Avon Gorge in giant letters which could be seen from the Clifton Suspension Bridge.
Stephen Tiger, 33, of Napier Road, Avonmouth, formerly known as Stephen Burke, defaced the cliff face on June 8 last year.
But he was caught on camera while he did it, leading to a city-wide police appeal to find him. His arrest only came when he was held over criminal damage in St Paul’s later and was eventually linked to the Avon Gorge graffiti.
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The cost of removing the paint was estimated at about £20,000 as the area is a “site of significant scientific interest”, or protected area.
His giant tag was not the first to have been left on the cliff face of the gorge. The National Trust said at the time of the appeal that graffiti artists had been breaking onto the property through Leigh Woods, trampling on rare “plants, insects, fungi and animals” in the process.
Tiger was sentenced at Bristol Crown Court on Thursday. Stuart King, investigating officer for Avon and Somerset police said: “Tiger caused significant damage to a prominent landmark in the city which is seen by thousands of people every day.
“I am very pleased with the sentence as it shows that acts of mindless vandalism will be treated seriously by the courts.”
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