source : the age
An accused graffiti vandal who allegedly demanded a sandwich to end an eight-hour stand-off atop the Bolte Bridge will remain behind bars.
Jack Gibson-Burrell, 22, allegedly climbed a giant concrete pillar to spray-paint a giant Pam the Bird tag early on Tuesday morning.
Police say he refused to follow their directions to come down. While he was on the bridge, he allegedly posted regular updates to an Instagram account with the biography “#notcomingdown”. The account now has 23,000 followers.
In the hours that followed, Gibson-Burrell claimed he would not emerge until taxes were lowered (without specifying which taxes), and then added a peanut butter and jam sandwich to his list of demands.
In an update posted shortly after 9am, wearing a yellow flower-like symbol on his balaclava, Gibson-Burrell declared he was still “patiently” waiting for the sandwich, holding his phone with one hand and flashing a peace sign with the other.
A final video, posted about 10.30am, showed him doing a dance with his hands on his knees.
In earlier videos, he appeared to be atop the bridge’s eastern concrete stack, looking down on several emergency vehicles and the road. Another video showed the man gleefully swinging his feet up and down while sitting on the pillar, soundtracked by Lesley Gore’s Sunshine, Lollipops and Rainbows.
He also wrote that he “might have a quick nap” and “wouldn’t mind a blankey, it’s kind of cold”.
Late on Tuesday, police confirmed Gibson-Burrell had been interviewed and charged with 13 offences including contravening bail conditions, committing an indictable offence while on bail, burglary, criminal damage, conduct endangering life and conduct endangering serious injury.
He has also been charged with graffiti-related offences, and appeared in Melbourne Magistrates’ Court on Tuesday evening.
Dressed in a police-issued white jumpsuit and sitting with his arms crossed, Gibson-Burrell was silent as his lawyer told the court he would not be applying for bail.
When asked if he needed any custodial management considerations, Gibson-Burrell’s lawyer suggested he “might be a little bit hungry”.
“I’m sure they will sort that,” the magistrate said.
Gibson-Burrell was remanded in custody to appear in court on these charges again in September.
The 22-year-old is already on bail after pleading not guilty to more than 200 charges that he caused $700,000 in damage by vandalising property across Melbourne.
Gibson-Burrell’s bail conditions had included living with his grandmother in Geelong, complying with a nightly curfew and not possessing abseiling or graffiti-related items. His friend, Finlay Dale, posted a $30,000 surety for his release, which he is now in danger of forfeiting after Gibson-Burrell’s alleged Bolte Bridge antics.
No date for his trial has been set.
One inbound lane of the Bolte Bridge was closed during Tuesday’s morning peak-hour commute as authorities tried to convince Gibson-Burrell to come down.
Acting Inspector Darren Wallis alleged the intruder broke into the base of the tower and climbed up a system of internal ladders.
“It was a particularly precarious situation, quite dangerous to the accused person, as well as to police, and it was difficult for us to negotiate that safe conclusion, but we got there,” he said.
Wallis also said police were unable to communicate with Gibson-Burrell the entire time he was on the pillar, and at times were worried that motorists were stopping on the Bolte Bridge to see what was happening above.
“There will be increased patrols and more police around the area, absolutely,” he said. “It’s a really dangerous environment for anyone to operate in, so we would really be encouraging people not to even think about that, so not just for the offender, but for the police as well.”
Wallis said the incident had needed a considerable police response and would ultimately cost taxpayers to remove the graffiti.
It’s understood that the cost of removing the graffiti could run into the tens of thousands of dollars, with the timeframe for removal as yet unknown, but likely to involve another lane closure.
Transurban owns and operates the CityLink road that includes the bridge, and previously cleaned similar graffiti off the “cheese stick” sculpture further north on the same highway in 2024.
The mercury dropped to 4 degrees on Tuesday morning as fog smothered the top of the bridge’s 140-metre-high concrete pillars.
Start the day with a summary of the day’s most important and interesting stories, analysis and insights. Sign up for our Morning Edition newsletter.
