‘Completely un-Australian’ – artist summonsed to court over painting mural of the late Shane Warne 

Graffiti artist charged with causing criminal damage for painting a mural of the late Shane Warne on the side of an abandoned home says it is ‘completely un-Australian’ – but makes one damning admission

  • Graffiti artist is outraged that his Shane Warne tribute has landed him in court 
  • Jarrod Grech said his upcoming legal case is ‘a waste of police and court time’
  • He is taking heart from the support for his work shown on his social media site

A graffiti artist is outraged that a mural he painted in tribute to the late cricketing legend Shane Warne has landed him in court. 

Warne’s sudden death shocked the country and the sporting world in March, after he had a heart attack on holidays in Koh Samui, Thailand, age 52.

Jarrod Grech has taken to video sharing site TikTok to complain that his upcoming legal case on criminal damage charges is ‘a waste of police and court time’.

Grech painted the mural on the side of a house at 40 Canning Street in the Melbourne suburb of Carlton.

The prolific street artist is taking heart at the support for his work in the comments beside his TikTok post, with one labelling the charges against him ‘un-Australian’.

Jarrod Grech is pictured beside his mural of Shane Warne in the Melbourne suburb of Carlton

When he initially did the mural, Grech said ‘Australia lost a legend!

‘In this portrait I tried to capture Shane’s charisma and fun nature. One of my fondest memories is playing cricket in primary school trying to bowl like Shane and Brett Lee. 

‘I hope I did your porcelain veneers proud brother. See you in the next life.’

In April Grech said he had painted the same wall numerous times despite not knowing who lived in the attached residence.  

‘The windows are boarded up,’ he told 3AW.

‘Usually I find the owner’s details and I ask them for permission, and then usually if they don’t like it I just spray it back.”

 Grech also admitted he ‘didn’t have a leg to stand on’, legally speaking.  

‘I’ll be getting permission from now on,’ he said.

A supporter praised Grech’s work, saying ‘I think your tribute is awesome! Beautifully done!’

Others said ‘amazing tribute mate! Art is not a crime’, ‘nice piece’ and ‘Bloody awesome – should be more of yours and less of the scribble that’s around.’

Some backed his view that the summons is ‘a waste of police and court time’. 

‘It’s art … the stupid laws need review – art shouldn’t be criminal damage,’ said one.

Another said that the police ‘should be arrested’, which was supported by a post saying ‘Exactly right. Completely un-Australian.’

Some others, however, took issue with where Grech did his mural. 

‘Unless you have the owner’s permission, you can’t just go around painting on walls. regardless of the tribute aspect,’ said one. 

Artist Jarrod Grech is pictured with some of his non-graffiti work at his studio in Melbourne

Artist Jarrod Grech is pictured with some of his non-graffiti work at his studio in Melbourne

‘Did you have permission to spray there?’ another asked.

The artist replied that ‘The house is abandoned, covered in graffiti.’

Another poster replied to that saying, ‘So you illegally defaced private property.’

Grech may not have helped his court case by replying to that with just one word – ‘Correct.’ 

He may be better off explaining his motivation for the mural just as he wrote on his TikTok feed: ‘Love you Shane’.

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Read more at DailyMail.co.uk