By Erin Pearson
A Melbourne man behind the prominent “Pam the Bird” graffiti is one of Australia’s most prolific taggers and known to abseil tall buildings to access the hard-to-reach locations the art often appears on, police allege.
Sporting an injured nose, Jack Gibson-Burrell, 21, of Yarraville, faced Melbourne Magistrates’ Court on Friday. He and his co-accused – Matthew Raoul White, 39, of Abbotsford – were seeking bail a day after they were arrested.
A sketch of Matthew Raoul White, 39, and co-accused Jack Gibson-Burrell, 21, in court on Friday.Credit: Paul Tyquin
Senior Constable Scott Nicholls labelled Gibson-Burrell a “notorious vandal” who stands accused of defacing property and buildings including metro trams, the Novotel Hotel, the Channel Nine building in Docklands, the “cheese stick” column on CityLink and Flinders Street railway station.
Nicholls said the 21-year-old allegedly caused about $100,000 damage. Investigators used his “distinct” clothing, including a pair of black Croc-style shoes, and a mobile phone to link him to the graffiti scenes.
The court heard undercover police had been tracking Gibson-Burrell for months before his arrest this week.
“The accused is currently one of the most prominent graffiti artists in Australia … a notorious vandal that is known to graffiti a distinct cartoon bird alongside the tag PAM or MP. The bird is colloquially known as ‘PAM the Bird’,” Nicholls told the court.
“While a small number of vandals are perhaps as prolific, their graffiti tags blend into the malaise that is Melbourne’s graffiti tags and scrawls.
“However, the distinct cartoon bird put up by the accused is instantly recognisable.”
Nicholls said Gibson-Burrell and White accessed the Flinders Street Station clocktower via an internal staircase before the cartoon bird and the words “my clock” were painted on the heritage-listed building.
During his alleged graffiti spree, Gibson-Burrell once wore a Santa suit while defacing a moving train, police said. Abseil equipment was allegedly used to scale the Channel Nine building and the 67-metre-high Clifton Hill shot tower, Nicholls said.
“Pam the Bird” at various locations.Credit: Joe Armao
Nicholls said Gibson-Burrell was the registered owner of Instagram account @goodbirdart on which police allege vision of his crimes was posted to 70,000 followers.
The court heard Gibson-Burrell was also allegedly captured on CCTV delivering 100 parcels to Footscray post shop with T-shirts displaying the bird motif and the words “hope for all”.
Gibson-Burrell is also accused of assaulting a store person at the Emporium – knocking him off his feet with one punch – after stealing jackets in December 2023.
Nicholls told the court the accused had previously expressed violence and animosity towards railway workers and sprayed paint into the eyes of one in Queensland. He later allegedly defaced the cars of Metro staff in Melbourne.
“Pam the Bird” graffiti on The Age and Nine offices in Docklands.Credit: Goodbirdart/Instagram
On December 20, he allegedly stole a car from Torquay before twice ramming the white Volkswagen into the front doors of a Footscray Nandos. Nicholls said the car had been spray-painted with the words “we don’t accept cash here” and “Nando dogs”.
“His offending has experienced a metamorphosis over the past two years ... broadening from simple and small acts of graffiti, to large-scale criminal damage involving significant risk to the public and victim assets, serious assaults, thefts of vehicles and other items, and more,” Nicholls said.
“He will continue to commit burglaries to gain access to whatever location he desires.”
In court on Friday, Gibson-Burrell and White were supported by half a dozen friends, including a woman White blew a kiss to as he was led out of the courtroom and back into custody.
Gibson-Burrell is facing 50 charges including criminal damage, burglary, shop theft and theft of a motor vehicle. His defence barrister Christopher Terry indicated his client would contest them.
White is facing 20 criminal damage offences relating to the graffiti of suburban trains and the Docklands office building, which is also the location of The Age’s office.
Their bail applications are set to continue on Tuesday, after the court ran out of time due to the number of allegations.
Members of Victoria Police’s Transit Divisional Response Unit arrested and charged the two men on Thursday.
Court documents released to the press show White was allegedly found with stolen Lego and golf balls when police searched his home.
At a press conference on Friday, Detective Sergeant Jason Wombwell said police believed Gibson-Burrell was the sole artist behind “Pam the Bird”.
“We believe one person is responsible for that bird, and that person is in custody and has been charged with those offences,” he said.
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