Graffiti vandal says 'I'm sorry'

A REBELLIOUS young artist responsible for some of the graffiti in Edenbridge has said sorry and spoken of his brush with the law.

Mike O'Connor, 15, of Ridgeway, has made the transition from criminal to role model after he was hauled into the police station for his graffiti vandalism.

The Sackville School student, whose parents are both police officers, was negotiating dangerous rail lines for his art but now teaches youth club members how to spray paint in a controlled environment.

Mike, who started graffiti art when he was just 11, said: "I started with little tags and things like that, I did a bit of bad work around Edenbridge. I was lucky I didn't get a criminal record.

"I was aware of how serious it was but I really didn't care.

"The fright made me stop. It was quite emotional for my mum being in the police station, it made me think I had to stop."

Mother Carol McDonagh spoke to the Courier about her son's run-in with the law which landed him with two reprimands.

She said: "Considering I am a police officer, and Michael's dad is a police officer, to get a phone call from someone to say he is in the local police station was obviously pretty stressful.

"Mike was not only doing graffiti but was climbing on Network Rail property that was totally unsafe and going across railway lines.

"I tried to explain that if he gets a criminal record he will ruin his future before it has even started."

Youth worker Steve Hanks gave Mike the chance to turn his fortunes around by showing a group of youngsters how to create stunning graffiti pieces on the walls of the old Eden Valley School site.

He now gets to teach on a regular basis and is creating a big graffiti piece to mark the 40th and 50th anniversary of the Stangrove and Spitals Cross estates.

Miss McDonagh said she thinks her son's progress is "brilliant".

She said: "He doesn't know exactly where he wants to go with this but he wants to progress."