Inverness graffiti artist to pay for damage after being caught 'red-handed'
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A graffiti artist was caught "red-handed" by police after he spray painted his nickname on to a wall and left some of the red paint on his hands.
But Inverness Sheriff Court had a good idea who the culprit was before catching up with him as 23-year-old George Williamson is sometimes referred to as 'young Rocker', the name his father was known by.
Williamson, of Aird Crescent, Kirkhill appeared before Sheriff Robert Frazer and admitted a charge of vandalism which occurred on December 7 this year.
Inverness Sheriff Court was told that police had received a call about a group of men damaging the BT building in Friar's Lane, Inverness at about 8pm.
Fiscal depute David Morton said: "Officers saw graffiti on the side of a wall with the name 'Rocker' which is the accused's nickname.
"The police traced the group nearby and George Williamson still had red paint on his hands and he was holding the spray can."
Defending Rory Gowans said: "My client is on a community payback order and it is going well.
"He was foolish and shouldn't have done it. He would be willing to pay for the clean-up costs.
"I had a recent similar case and the cost of cleaning was about £100."
Mr Morton didn't disagree with that estimate.
Sheriff Frazer fined Williamson £100 and ordered him to pay BT £100 in compensation.
He told Williamson: "You can't go around spraying your nickname on walls. It was a stupid thing to do."
But as Williamson left the dock, Sheriff Frazer addressed him again, saying: "Behave yourself Mr Williamson and have a Merry Christmas."
