By PRATHAMESH DESHPANDE
An Esperance graffiti vandal interjected “seriously?!” after receiving his sentence at the Esperance Magistrates Court on June 11 for damaging an infrastructure company’s property.
Samuel John Bonanno, 45, pleaded guilty to trespassing on a place without lawful excuse, damaging property by graffiti, failing to comply with request to give police personal details, and obstructing public officers.
Senior constable Brent Reid said at around 7.40am on May 18, police located the offender on railway tracks on Arc Infrastructure’s Sims Street property in Nulsen. He said this area had restricted public access.
Snr Constable Reid said Bonanno failed to comply with the police officers’ request to give them his full name, date of birth and address. He said when questioned about the graffiti, the offender said: “I’m allowed to be here; it’s not graffiti, it’s art”.
Snr Constable Reid said Bonanno obstructed police officers by “kicking out” and resisting to a basic search saying, “I’m not doing a strip search”.
“[The police officers] attacked me; I had my hands in the air,” the offender told the court.
Bonanno said he was unemployed and was receiving Centrelink.
Magistrate Janie Gibbs noted his “similar prior relevant offences” from 2007 and decided to deal with the matters by way of a community-based order.
She sentenced him to six months of community-based order with no supervision or program requirements and ordered him to pay a fine of $141.50.
Bonanno responded with “seriously?!” closely followed by “I’m sorry”.
