Tagger is caught red-handed in daylight

A BOY has been caught on camera daubing graffiti on the side of Henley Bridge.

The teenager was photographed writing “f***ing filthy” in black on the side of the wall of Red Lion Lawn, which is attached to the Grade I listed structure.

Matthew Gordon, from Hare Hatch, took the picture as he was walking across the bridge at about noon on Friday.

He said: “As I held the camera up, he stopped painting and turned towards me. His mate was in the little hut in the corner and was looking at him, not at me. I wanted to embarrass him. Apart from what he has written on the wall, he had the cheek to be actually doing it in broad daylight.”

The incident comes more than two years after a large black and white “H” tag appeared on Wokingham side of Henley Bridge just below the Henley Royal Regatta headquarters. It is still there.

Oxfordshire County Council, which is responsible for the bridge, says it hopes to have obtained the necessary building consent to remove it by “early summer”.

It blamed the delay on heritage specialists confirming a suitable method of removal without damaging the structure.

Town county councillor Stefan Gawrysiak said he was shocked that the bridge had been daubed again.

He said: “This is town council land and I hope that the person in the picture is identifiable.

“I will certainly be drawing the attention of the police to the picture and I hope they will follow it up with maximum vigour. I will be pursuing him with a large bill for removing the graffiti. I will be in touch with the town council’s parks department to get it cleaned off. It is absolutely shocking that this behaviour happens and of course it causes annoyance and extra work and expense.

“I hope that this kind of behaviour stops. Put your energies into something creative and productive, not into this mindless activity.”

Geoff Luckett, chairman of the Henley Society, said: “I wish they would stop. They’re amusing themselves but they’re not amusing us. It’s just unacceptable behaviour.

“That sort of language we really don’t need. It’s only visible from the river and the bridge at least.”

Mayor Kellie Hinton said young people needed more stimulation to prevent them misbehaving rather than being “criminalised”. She said: “Unfortunately, there’s an expense to all antisocial and criminal behaviour that we deal with and graffiti is one example.

“I’m reluctant to get involved in a trial by media. I completely understand the man’s frustrations and understand it from the point of view of a resident and councillor but at the same time I don’t think it’s right to criminalise young people. We have wonderful facilities in town like Nomad and Riverside Counselling which can reach out to young people.”

People caught painting graffiti can be liable under the Criminal Damage Act 1971 and face a fine or imprisonment if prosecuted. Local councils are usually responsible for removing graffiti from public buildings.

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