By Erin Pearson
The man accused of being behind the prolific Melbourne “Pam the Bird” tag has been refused bail after a magistrate said his behaviour was a risk to public safety.
Jack Gibson-Burrell, 21, of Yarraville, and his co-accused, Matthew Raoul White, 39, of Abbotsford, faced court on Wednesday for a second time this week in their bid for bail.
Matthew Raoul White leaving court with the woman he blew kisses to in court.Credit: Wayne Taylor
Magistrate Johanna Metcalf said there was a risk Gibson-Burrell would continue graffitiing and breaking into prominent buildings – while unqualified and untrained to abseil down these locations – to boost his social media profile.
She also expressed concern about Gibson-Burrell’s documented propensity to commit violence if disturbed while graffitiing, after a transport worker was sprayed in the face in Queensland, leaving him partially blinded.
He was also under investigation for an alleged unprovoked attack on another person in September, she said, and charged with punching an Emporium store worker during an alleged shop theft.
“There is an element of deliberate risk-taking for thrill and notoriety,” the magistrate said.
“Regarding the conduct endangering life charges: They involve allegations of abseiling down buildings and the use of a stolen car to ram raid commercial premises,” Metcalf said, referring to the ram raid of a Nandos restaurant in Footscray.
“This behaviour is inherently risky.
“[Then there is the] brazen and unprovoked attack on an employee of a shop who was trying to stop a theft. The totality of the offending is serious.
“In my view, if all the matters were proven … a term of imprisonment would be on the cards.”
Matthew Raoul White (left) and Jack Gibson-Burrell faced court again on Wednesday.Credit: The Age
The court earlier heard police allege Gibson-Burrell was one of Australia’s most prolific graffiti artists who stood accused of abseiling tall buildings to access hard-to-reach locations to spread his Pam the Bird murals.
The damage bill was estimated to be more than $200,000, police said.
Senior Constable Scott Nicholls labelled Gibson-Burrell a “notorious vandal” who stood 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 Station.
He is facing more than 50 charges including criminal damage, aggravated burglary and car theft.
Gibson-Burrell is also charged over allegations he took two girls, aged about five years, put them in Pam the Bird T-shirts and helped them trespass onto a train line where they were recorded flipping the bird at and close to moving trains.
In opposing bail, police alleged that offending by Gibson-Burrell had escalated recently and included an allegation (over which he has not been charged) that he had stabbed a man repeatedly and that he had entered homes to steal cars while residents slept.
His co-accused, White, is facing 17 charges and is accused of attending three Pam the Bird locations with Gibson-Burrell, where he was captured on CCTV.
Police do not allege he painted any of the Pam the Bird artwork.
Pam the Bird graffiti being cleaned off Novotel, South Wharf on Wednesday.Credit: Jason South
On Tuesday, lawyers for Gibson-Burrell said he should be bailed to live with his grandmother in Geelong, and police revealed for the first time they were seeking the help of the FBI to unmask the person behind the Pam the Bird Instagram account.
They allege it is Gibson-Burrell, who was on bail during much of the alleged offending over the past year, with priors for both criminal damage and violence matters that resulted in a good behaviour bond and non-convictions.
Police said they were working with the government to get the FBI to carry out a search warrant of Instagram to try to link Gibson-Burrell to the account, where images and videos of the cartoon bird were posted to more than 70,000 followers.
Matthew Raoul White was bailed on Wednesday.Credit: Wayne Taylor
Both men maintain their innocence and plan to contest the charges.
In arguing for bail on Tuesday, Gibson-Burrell’s lawyers said their client was young, with a limited criminal history and facing a complex, circumstantial case.
Both defence teams also argued that if remanded in custody, the men would be likely to face more time on remand than any jail term they might get if found guilty.
Gibson-Burrell wants to be bailed to live with his grandmother and gain work as a traffic controller, while White sought to eventually move to Ferny Creek.
Gibson-Burrell was remanded in custody to reappear in June.
The magistrate said the charges against White were less serious, with no allegations of violence against him. He was granted bail with conditions, including that he stay in Victoria and report to police three days a week.
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