Drawing Attention to one's self now gets you Three Months in the Slammer

Graffiti girl, 18, jailed three months on a first offence.

AN 18-year-old woman sentenced to three months jail for a single "tag" she scrawled in Sydney's Hyde Park has branded the penalty "ridiculous".

Cheyane Back yesterday slammed the sentence handed down by Magistrate Ian McRae - but vowed never to paint her graffiti signature "2shie" - or anything else - on public property again.

"I think (the sentence) was absolutely ridiculous for my first charge and for something so small," Back said after being released on bail.

Now that more details have emerged - read on below - we are running a poll on the issue. Vote here and send your feedback underneath the story. meaning Comment.

"But I'll never do anything like it again. I would clean it off, I'll apologise, I'll do anything. I was shocked and scared," she continued.

"Jail is a big step. I've been sitting in that place (the cells) too long and it's absolutely horrible, it's disgusting. It definitely taught me a lesson."

It's a very different attitude to Back's social networking site where she calls herself "Little Miss Shy" who is happiest getting drunk with friends.

"Loved by some, hated by many, envied by most, yet wanted by plenty. Steal from the rich, hang with the poor, f . . . the world, f . . . the law," she wrote.

Mr McRae gave her a sobering wake-up call, saying graffiti cost the community millions in clean-up bills and taggers or graffiti vandals needed to be sent a clear message.

He said that unless the courts start treating it seriously people would continue thinking it was an innocent offence.

GRAFFITI vandals once sought to explain their crimes as "freedom of expression".

Denied other means of expressing themselves, they felt compelled to deface buildings, public transport and any other surfaces.



Vest suggests that all prisoners released from jail be presented the Bill for food and accommodation. Otherwise during this recession we had to have, the unemployed may seek relief in the form of solace in the slammer.

In the age of the internet, that excuse is no longer valid. Now freedom of expression is only a few keystrokes away.

Anyone with even an elementary knowledge of English can express themselves as expansively as they wish, and to a potential audience massively larger than any graffiti kid could wish for.
Teenager Cheyane Back has her own social network site - but despite that, she still scrawls on restaurant walls.

Not any more. Sentenced to three months in prison, Back vows she'll never return to her previous scribbly ways.

Back's sentence is a long overdue response to a serious urban blight. While it may seem harsh to send an 18-year-old inside for a relatively minor crime, the value in this sentence is the message it sends to other would-be offenders.

Individually, each graffiti incident is small. Collectively, they are ruinously expensive and ugly. That's why Magistrate Ian McRae's sentence is a worthwhile one. Well done mate.

Meanwhile, we can still enjoy Back's website poetry. One verse reads:

Steal from the rich. Hang with the poor

F . . . the world. F . . . the law

To which Mr McRae might have easily replied: Epic fail. Go to jail.


The final segment of her poem she may well find eay to come by in the nick.

Comments

Anonymous said…
Good! It's about time judges and magistrates got serious with these dumbasses. First offence? or first time she's been caught? Yes, her parents should get 3 months for that name. How do you pronounce it anyway?
Posted by: christina of Canberra 10:26am today
Anonymous said…
she's just a kid. she doesn't deserve to be in prison. the sentence is disproportionate to the crime. Jail should be a last resort and should only be handed down if the community needs protection from someone dangerous (eg rapist, paedophile etc). Jail rarely ever manages to rehabilitate someone - its only purpose is to protect the community.
Anonymous said…
Good on the Judge. Zero tolerance is the only answer to this kind of rubbish.
Anonymous said…
Stephanie; So at Eighteen she's just a kid.
"Send her to me or her parents for a sound ass spanking with a wet hairbrush".
Or better still she should be left in your care for guidance. Mike.
Anonymous said…
Her response to the jail sentence says it all - 'I was shocked and scared.. I'll never do anything like it again.. It definitely taught me a lesson'. These kids, or anyone who commits a crime, has to know that they aren't going to get away with it with a slap on the wrist. It sets an example to others.
Anonymous said…
To all those complaining more serious crimes got a lighter sentence the problem isn't the sentence given here, the problem is the other sentences should have been much harsher. This sentence matches the crime the other sentences do not and that is what is ridiculous. The time has come for society to impose discipline on the vandals and thugs who are ruining our society. Japan and Singapore to quote two examples are not covered in Graffiti. Not only are they better behaved there are consequences if they do this.Their system works ours does not. The evidence is plastered on every public building and railway train.This has to stop.

Good on the judge, about time the graffiti drop kicks were taught a lesson.
Anonymous said…
I live in redfern All houses have graffiti on them except the pubs clubs and cop shop. my mum sends her love vesty and is glad your well now.
Anonymous said…
I forgot send that tart to me i'd enjoy slapping her bum. and stephanies too.
Anonymous said…
Subject: FW: Bragging about kids

> >>> ------------------------------------------------------------------------
> >>> Four friends, who hadn't seen each other in 30 years, reunited at a
> >>> party
> >>> .
> >>> After several drinks, one of the men had to use the rest room.
> >>> Those who remained talked about their kids.
> >>> The first guy said, 'My son is my pride and joy.He started working at a
> >>> successful company at the bottom of the barrel. He studied Economics
> >>> and Business Administration and soon began to climb the corporate ladder
> >>> and now he's the president of the company. He became so rich that he
> >>> gave his best friend a top of the line Mercedes for his birthday.'
> >>> The second guy said, 'Darn, that's terrific! My son is also my pride and
> >>> joy. He started working for a big airline, then went to flight school to
> >>> become a pilot. Eventually he became a partner in the company, where he
> >>> owns the majority of its assets He's so rich that he gave his best
> >>> friend a brand new jet for his birthday.'
> >>> The third man said: 'Well, that's terrific! My son studied in the best
> >>> universities and became an engineer. Then he started his own
> >>> construction company and is now a multimillionaire. He also gave away
> >>> something very nice and expensive to his best friend for his birthday: A
> >>> 30,000 square foot mansion.'
> >>> The three friends congratulated each other just as the fourth returned
> >>> from the restroom and asked: 'What are all the congratulations
> >>> for?'
> >>> One of the three said: 'We were talking about the pride we feel for the
> >>> successes of our sons. .What about your son?'
> >>> The fourth man replied: 'My son is gay and makes a living dancing as a
> >>> stripper at a nightclub.'
> >>> The three friends said: 'What a shame... what a disappointment.'
> >>> The fourth man replied: 'No, I'm not ashamed. He's my son and I love
> >>> him. And he hasn't done too bad either. His birthday was two weeks ago,
> >>> and he received a beautiful 30,000 square foot mansion, a brand new jet
> >>> and a top of the line Mercedes from his three boyfriends.'

*********************************************************************
Jimmy said…
"Loved by some, hated by many, envied by most, yet wanted by plenty. Steal from the rich, hang with the poor, f . . . the world, f . . . the law," she wrote.


dis is me
Jimmy said…
Oh God
A will spank me now


Oooooohhh
Vest said…
I agree, a good sound spanking is a spanking good idea.
She may even enjoy it, she being a bit kinky.
I could do it wearing a policemans uniform, it might change her opinion about ('F' The Law).

Thanks all for your comments.

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