Seth Van Eden: HTAE Graffiti train tagger convicted for vandalism
A serial graffiti vandal who tagged trains across Sydney, racking up a damage bill in the thousands of dollars, has been slammed for his “selfish” behaviour in court.
Central Coast
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A serial graffiti vandal who tagged trains across the city, racking up a damage bill in the thousands of dollars, is now using his creative pursuits to design signs for his mum’s work, a court has heard.
Following a rise in the graffiti tag ‘HTAE’ on Sydney Trains, an investigation was launched last September with police soon suspecting Central Coast 22-year-old Seth Van Eden as the man responsible.
The tiler pleaded guilty to about 16 graffiti-related offences, including damage property and running on train lines, spanning almost a year and taking place in Wyong, Hornsby, Lavender Bay and Eveleigh.
The court heard Van Eden was unemployed as a result of spinal injuries from a car accident during the time he was roaming the city spray painting murals on trains.
Magistrate Michael Antrum found there was a level of planning in the “selfish” crimes as the 22-year-old would, at times, disguise himself using a black face mask.
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Court documents reveal on one occasion the HTAE tag was painted on the moving train covering the city loop about 7am, before Van Eden was seen leaving the vandalised carriage.
When police raided his family home at Gwandalan a Sydney Trains hard hat, padlock and small amount of cannabis was seized.
Van Eden’s lawyer told the court his client had cleaned up his act by “diverting his creativity away from criminal activities (through) drawing signs for his mother’s work”.
The court heard the Central Coast man tagged trains so the art would be seen by a bigger audience, with the train moving from suburb to suburb, however the vandalism acts were labelled as selfish by Magistrate Antrum.
“When people enter a street art gallery or an art gallery, they can make a choice,” he said.
“It is a very selfish point of view that you think everyone wants to see your art.”
Van Eden was convicted of 21 offences, including damage property, running on train tracks and drug possession, and was sentenced to a 12-month conditional release order. He was also ordered to pay Sydney Trains compensation of $6840.