A Dublin graffiti artist who caused more than €60,000 of damage to Irish Rail carriages and pepper-sprayed a train driver has been given a four-year suspended sentence.
Sentencing Sean Cullen (22), also known as Cullen-Wilson, on Friday, Judge Martin Nolan said the defendant “probably thought it was great fun” but that Irish Rail had to spend a lot of money and resources cleaning his graffiti.
Cullen, of Hope Avenue, East Wall, pleaded guilty at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court to two counts of criminal damage and one of assault under Section 2 of the Non-Fatal Offences Against the Person Act 1997, known as common assault.
He was taken into custody following a sentence hearing earlier this week, with Judge Nolan saying he did so in order to warn him that this was his future if he misbehaved again.
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“I hope he has learned his lesson from his time in custody,” he added.
Judge Nolan noted that Cullen may look like “butter wouldn’t melt in his mouth”, but that he got up to a “lot of mischief”.
The court heard he caused €60,914 worth of damage and that Irish Rail has indicated further costs of €40,000 for these incidents alone.
The judge accepted that Cullen is remorseful for his actions and is working as an apprentice electrician. He has not reoffended since and had a sum of €2,000 in court for the driver he assaulted.
The judge imposed a sentence of four years, but suspended it in full on several conditions. He warned Cullen he would go to jail if he reoffended.
At a sentence hearing this week, an investigating garda told Marc Thompson BL, prosecuting, that Irish Rail contacted gardaí after an incident at the Fairview Dart Depot on September 25th, 2021.
A train driver noticed two men at the depot who were acting suspiciously and realised they did not work there. He approached them and grabbed Cullen. There was a physical altercation during which the injured party was pepper-sprayed by Cullen. There was also graffiti on the exterior of carriages.
Cullen and his co-accused, who is not before the court, fled the scene.
The driver had a swollen face after the incident and complained about pain and an injury to his back when gardaí arrived. He was out of work for a period but has since made a full recovery and returned to work.
Several incidents involving criminal damage by graffiti to train carriages were outlined to the court, with photos handed in. Others besides Cullen were also involved in some of these.
At the Docklands Train Station on February 21st, 2020, the exterior of train carriages were sprayed with silver and black spray paint. Damage was also caused to the carriage’s interiors with ‘SD’ written using a marker.
Another incident also took place at Connolly Station on November 22nd, 2021.
On June 6th, 2020, the exterior of an equipment signal container at Merrion Gates, Merrion Road, was also spray-painted.
Cullen was identified from CCTV, and his home was searched in May 2022. During this search, spray cans and other items were found.
He was arrested and questioned about these incidents, but nothing of evidential value was obtained.
Cullen’s fingerprints were identified on certain items by forensic analysis.
He has one previous conviction for damaging property.
Karl Monaghan BL, defending, put it to the investigating garda that the second man “administered thumps” to the injured party.
Seven references and an award Cullen received from a garda initiative were handed to the court.
Mr Monaghan said this was an “unfortunate series of offending” which has had serious consequences for Irish Rail.
He said his client has no “real explanation”, adding that Cullen became “fascinated” by graffiti in the East Wall area and was aware of a 1970s art movement in New York, in which some street artists spray-painted trains.
Counsel said his client knows his acts were criminal, wrong and that he accepts full responsibility.
