A 20-year-old man who police suspect to be behind a number of instances of graffiti in Epsom will appear in court after he was caught "literally red-handed" by police recently.
On Friday (July 24), police from the Epsom and Ewell division of Surrey Police described how they had arrested a 20-year-old named Billy after a short foot chase in the town.
An off-duty officer from the borough police force had reportedly spotted the 20-year-old painting the town red and called in on-duty colleagues to intervene.
Billy has been charged with 5 offences of Criminal Damage and will appear at Court on 20th August 2020.
— EpsomEwellBeat (@EpsomEwellBeat) July 24, 2020
If you have any further information about graffiti in the borough please do contact Epsom and Ewell Borough Council to report this. @EpsomEwellBC
In a short statement posted online, a spokesperson for Epsom and Ewell Police said:
"We often have to undertake extensive investigations to bring an offender to justice. Not the case for Billy, aged 20, who was seen by an off-duty Officer to be spraying graffiti around Epsom town.
"When our team arrived he ran off, throwing his can of red spray paint behind him.
"Despite jumping over a wall one of the Officers followed and arrested the male, catching him red handed. Literally."
Banksy spray-painted images of rats on the inside of a London Underground train. The BBC reported that the virus-themed art was removed by cleaners. https://t.co/0Y0PKc87cz pic.twitter.com/ub9jcfBU1k
— The New York Times (@nytimes) July 15, 2020
Police said the 20-year-old was charged with five offences of Criminal Damage.
He is due to appear in court on August 20, 2020.
In England and Wales, graffiti is considered an act of criminal damage under the Criminal Damage Act 1971 and offenders can be punished with a fine and even jail time.
Nevertheless, a number of the world's prominent artists like British artist Banksy have risen to the apex of the art world using the medium.
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