Pam the Bird: Police believe ‘prolific’ graffiti the work of just one Melbourne man
A controversial piece of graffiti plastered in seemingly impossible places across Melbourne is solely the work of one man, police believe.
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Police have seized abseiling equipment and charged a 21-year-old man allegedly responsible for a series of graffiti murals plastered across Melbourne.
The “Pam the Bird” image has attracted widespread media and social media attention, spotted on hard-to-reach landmarks, trains, signs, buildings and walls.
Two men were arrested in raids at two properties in Yarraville and Abbotsford on Thursday, with the pair facing the Melbourne Magistrates’ Court on Friday afternoon.
Police allege Jack Gibson-Burrell, 21, is responsible for Pam the Bird artworks, including at Flinders Street train station, the Novotel Hotel, the 9News building and a concrete silo in Geelong.
A second man, Matthew Raoul White, 39, also appeared in court, with police alleging he is responsible for the SROCK tag often seen alongside Pam the Bird.
Ahead of the hearing the pair could be seen chatting with security officers while seated in the dock.
Mr Gibson-Burrell sported a swollen nose, with his lawyer, Chris Terry, requesting he be seen by a nurse in custody.
The alleged artist has been charged with more than 50 offences, including criminal damage, burglary and theft, while Mr White was charged with more than 20 criminal damage offences.
Lawyers acting for the two men launched bail applications —opposed by police who alleged they were a risk of further offending — before the case ran out of time and was adjourned to next Tuesday by Magistrate Johanna Metcalf.
Transit Safety Division Senior Constable Scott Nicholls alleged Mr Gibson-Burrell was “currently one of the most prominent graffiti artists in Australia... a notorious vandal”.
“The accused engages in what is described as high volume offending,” he said.
“It is a certainty he will continue to offend at a high frequency, with incidents likely to increase in both size and volume in order for him to maintain his status within the Melbourne graffiti scene.”
Constable Nicholls told the court police allege the unemployed man was the sole person known to engage in Pam the Bird graffiti with past criminal charges in Victoria and Queensland.
Mr White, the officer said, is an alleged collaborator and owner of the Bodega Paint Shop in Abbotsford.
He told the court Mr Gibson-Burrell had allegedly undergone a “metamorphosis” over the past two years, targeting high-profile and dangerous locations and sharing his exploits through the Instagram account Good Bird Art — which boasts 70,000 followers.
Constable Nicholls said police had allegedly linked Mr Gibson-Burrell to a series of graffitti through CCTV, his phone records, and posts to the Instagram account.
These include, he said, the Channel 9 headquarters in Docklands, the “cheese stick” public art over the M1 freeway, the clock face at Flinders Street, the former Uncle Tobys factory in West Footscray and the Clifton Hill Shot Tower.
It’s alleged Mr Gibson-Burrell abseiled down to spray the artwork, with Mr White allegedly present for several of the notable incidents.
In one incident on December 30 last year, Constable Nicholls alleged Mr Gibson-Burrell stopped a trail between Spotswood and Yarraville and, while patrons were on board, sprayed a Pam the Bird along a carriage while wearing a Santa Claus outfit.
According to police Mr Gibson-Burrell is also accused of knocking out a staff member at a store in Melbourne’s Emporium in December 2023 and ramming a stolen car into a Nando’s restaurant in Footscray on December 20, 2024.
The vehicle was scrawled with the words “we don’t accept cash here” and “Nando’s dogs”.
Mr Terry, his lawyer, flagged the charges will be contested and noted that many of the incidents captured a “head to toe disguised” individual police claimed was his client.
Both men will return to court on February 4.
Earlier on Friday, Detective Acting Senior Sergeant Jason Wombwell of the Transit Safety Division chalked the arrests up to “just old fashion hard police work”.
He told media that police would allege the pair were both “prolific graffiti vandals” believed to work together.
“If you drive anywhere on these major roads, particularly out west … they’re everywhere,” he said.
“If you watch the mainstream media or social media some people like it … my opinion is it’s criminal damage.”
Sergeant Wombwell said police would allege the iconic Pam the Bird artwork was the work of Mr Gibson-Burrell, while Mr White was responsible for the SROCK tag.
“In terms of Pam the Bird we’re investigating one person. We believe one person is responsible for that bird and that person is in custody and has been charged with those offences,” he said.
Sergeant Wombwell declined to comment on how the men were allegedly linked to the graffiti, other than to say they’d been investigating the pair for “quite a long time”.
He said while some in the community expressed a liking for Pam the Bird, it was “definitely not funny” to business owners or taxpayers left to foot the cleaning bill.
According to police, the damage bill for the Pam the Bird graffiti is estimated at more than $100,000.
The hearing will continue next week.
Originally published as Pam the Bird: Police believe ‘prolific’ graffiti the work of just one Melbourne man
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