A young graffiti artist who left his “tag” on road signs near Gleneagles faces an expensive punishment.
At Perth Sheriff Court yesterday Daniel Carlin admitted defacing several signs on the A9 Perth to Stirling road between May 14 and 15.
The 19-year-old left his mark while waiting for a friend to pick him up from the nearby train station.
Eventually heading to Auchterarder police station in a bid to track down his friend, Carlin ended up having his bag searched.
Officers found several cans of spray paint, leading them to question him about signs marked with the words “Bio” and “Blah” they had discovered earlier that evening.
The Glasgow man admitted those were two of his tags, or signatures.
His artistic spree ended up costing Perth and Kinross Council £4206.85 in repairs and replacements.
Defence agent Rosie Scott said her client was an accomplished graffiti artist, earning commissions from several galleries.
She added, “It was very foolish of him and he knows it was wrong and fully accepts that.”
Carlin, of Kempsthorn Crescent, admitted that between May 14 and 15, at the A9 Dunblane to Perth road at Gleneagles, he willfully and recklessly damaged or destroyed property, spraying road signs on the northbound and southbound carriageways.
Sheriff Robert McCreadie warned Carlin that he faced footing the entire bill himself and said, “The taxpayers in this community have had to pay over £4000 because of this wanton vandalism. He has been caught and today is his comeuppance.
“Why should anyone else have to fork out for this childish, puerile behaviour that the rest of us find difficult to fathom?”
Sentence was deferred to December 20 to give Carlin time to pay some money towards the damage caused.