MELBOURNE—An American who sprayed Melbourne buildings and posted pictures of his work on his webpage has been handed a suspended jail sentence.
Jason Steven Williams, known by his tag Revok (Revok), promised on his Twitter page to "paint as much as I can" while in Melbourne.
During his two-week spree Williams tagged several inner Melbourne buildings, including St Vincent's Hospital, the Melbourne Magistrates Court heard on Oct 29.
He also sprayed a train and train overpasses.
Williams' decision to post the graffiti on his website and Twitter page proved to be his downfall.
Police seized his camera, mobile phone and laptop when they arrested him at Melbourne Airport on Wednesday as he tried to go home to the United States.
He spent Wednesday night and much of Thursday in custody.
In court later on Thursday, Williams, 32, of Los Angeles, pleaded guilty to nine counts of criminal damage.
The court heard Williams came to Australia on Oct. 13 to participate in a legal graffiti event that was cancelled because the promoter encountered financial troubles.
As he left the Melbourne Custody Centre, Williams said he was sorry for what he had done.
"I feel very remorseful, very remorseful," he said.
"I just do what I do. I came here, I did some stuff, maybe I did some things I shouldn't have done, I apologise," he said.
Williams said it would not be wise for him to comment on whether he thought he had improved Melbourne.
Magistrate Ian von Einem was told Williams had no prior convictions.
Sentencing Williams, Mr von Einem said he had done a disservice to those pushing for greater acceptance of graffiti's legitimacy.
The court was told Williams had legitimate exhibitions coming up in Los Angeles and Miami.
Mr von Einem sentenced Williams to nine months prison, wholly suspended for two years.
He also ordered Williams pay $15,340 in damages.
Leaving court, Williams joked that the currency exchange wasn't good and he couldn't have picked a worse time to have to pay a fine.
