‘Pam the Bird’ accused considering plea deal following Bolte stunt

Just as the famously anonymous Banksy always hides his face from view, the man accused of spray-painting Pam the Bird graffiti across the city is also camera-shy.

Jack Gibson-Burrell was beamed into Melbourne Magistrates’ Court from custody for seven minutes on Tuesday, but for nearly all of it, the public could only see the back of his shaved head.

During earlier court appearances Gibson-Burrell arrived and left the building shielding his face or dressed in a Spider-Man costume, but on Monday he sat largely unmoving from a remote room at Melbourne Remand Centre.

That has been his home since his arrest at the base of the Bolte Bridge, which followed an eight-hour stand-off with police after he allegedly tagged the Melbourne landmark with a 20-metre representation of the famous cartoon bird.

Gibson-Burrell’s defence lawyer Micky Milardovic told magistrate Avi Furstenberg that a “holistic offer” to resolve all matters would be put to the prosecution between now and November, which would encompass a “raft” of other similar charges currently before the County Court, related to Pam the Bird graffiti on buildings and signs across Melbourne and Geelong.

The result and future of the cases, he said, would then become clearer.

“I did see the back of his head up on the screen there a moment ago, your honour,” Milardovic added, before the link soon dropped out, unplanned.

In July, the 23-year-old allegedly climbed a 120-metre-high concrete pillar to spray-paint a giant Pam the Bird on the Bolte Bridge, with police shutting down nearby peak-hour traffic.

Police allege he initially refused to follow their directions to come down, with demands being posted on an Instagram account allegedly connected to the accused stating he would not descend until unspecified taxes were lowered and a peanut butter and jam sandwich was prepared and delivered to him.

He was later arrested and charged with 13 offences including contravening bail conditions, committing an indictable offence while on bail, burglary, criminal damage, conduct endangering life, conduct endangering serious injury and graffiti-related offences.

Gibson-Burrell was also one of the first adults to be charged under Victoria’s “post and boast” laws, which came into effect in August last year to criminalise the posting of images, audio, text or videos of serious crimes, including theft and burglary, to social media.

At the time, he was on bail after pleading not guilty to more than 200 charges related to vandalism to buildings across Melbourne and Geelong estimated to cost more than $700,000 to clean up, as well as aggravated burglary and car theft.

Gibson-Burrell is also charged with intentionally causing injury after allegedly stabbing a man with a kitchen knife, and also charged over an earlier unprovoked attack on an Emporium store worker.

Police allege that he painted the Pam the Bird image on Melbourne sites including the Flinders Street Station clock, the side of the Novotel Hotel in South Wharf, and on one of Melbourne’s much-loved “cheese sticks” at the start of Flemington Road.

They allege he is the sole person behind the “Pam the Bird” tags.

He is due to face the County Court later this month before returning to the Melbourne Magistrates’ Court in November.

Gibson-Burrell was remanded in custody, and no application for bail was made.

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