Gong: Jarrad Harland, graffiti artist, sentenced for death defying stunts
A tagger who led cops on a two-year manhunt has been handed his punishment for scrawling his moniker ‘Gong’ on hundreds of buildings. But despite wanting everyone to see his ‘art’, he wasn’t so keen on having his photo taken outside court.
Central Sydney
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Infamous graffiti artist Gong who ‘tagged’ hundreds of buildings across Sydney has been ordered to scrub the city’s buildings clean.
Jarrad Harland led police on a wild two-year hunt after his tags started appearing on properties across the city in early 2018.
The 25-year-old was unmasked as the prolific tagger last year after earning mythical status in some corners of the internet for his jaw dropping feats of malicious damage from Lidcombe to Bondi.
Court documents reveal detectives had found “hundreds of tags” across Sydney and estimated a damage bill of up to $38,526.
The Caringbah man was supported by his family in the Downing Centre Local Court on Friday, as his lawyer explained how he was now a changed man who had reformed from his previous criminal activities and was instead now paying taxes after scoring a job as a sign maker.
“Isn’t that ironic,” Magistrate Susan McIntyre said of his new gig.
Harland was facing almost 30 charges after Surry Hills detectives nabbed him last year, including property damage and break and enters, though a number of them were withdrawn.
The court heard Harland, a former BMX prodigy, would scale buildings hundreds of feet tall before tagging them with ‘Gong’ “as an escape” from a variety of issues he was having at the time, including depression, his lawyer Zoe Wetham submitted.
Magistrate McIntyre, however, described them as “death-defying”.
“(Harland) gained online notoriety online, showcasing these tags online via Instagram and other online forums,” court documents state.
“With the increased following the accused has continued to push the bounds by making larger murals, defacing buildings and committing break and enter offences to access new and daring locations.”
The break and enter offences were among those withdrawn by police.
Some of his more notable works include what would have been a risky series of tags on the Chatswood RSL, the Quest Hotel in Mascot and Westfield’s in Bondi Junction and Miranda.
It is believed graffiti on top of the entrance of the Eastern Distributor first caught the attention of detectives, who began looking into the case earlier this year.
Court documents reveal CCTV captured Harland getting footage of his work with a drone the next day.
The Dental Hospital in Surry Hills also among a number of spots that were hit up during his spree, which would see him scale several storeys with limited safety gear in the middle of the night to reach the precarious locations.
Sydney Trains, a prominent target of Gong, had a victim impact statement tendered to court detailing the impact of graffiti art on its bottom line.
Harland was fined $6000 for the 13 malicious damage charges – which was converted to 200 hours of graffiti clean up work – and put on a 12 month community corrections order.
As part of his sentencing he will also have to continue strides made in rehabilitation through a Salvation Army program.
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