On Jun 8, 11:55*am, "Recliner" wrote:
Fromwww.guardian.co.uk/artanddesign/2011/jun/07/tox-graffiti-artist-crimi....

'Tox' graffiti artist convicted of criminal damage
'King of taggers' Daniel Halpin remanded in custody after jury decides
his ubiquitous Tox tag is vandalism

by Caroline Davies

To some he is an urban icon, a street artist dedicated to bombing his
tag on more, and riskier, places than any other in the UK.
But Daniel Halpin – or Tox, "king of taggers" and scourge of London
Underground's cleaning force – faces the possibility of prison walls as
his only canvas after a jury decided his art was vandalism and convicted
him of criminal damage.

The 26-year-old, from Camden, north London, whose masked image and story
of anarchism has featured on television documentaries and in magazines,
was found guilty of a string of graffiti attacks across England after
prosecutor Hugo Lodge told a jury: "He is no Banksy. He doesn't have the
artistic skills, so he has to get his tag up as much as possible."

As he was remanded in custody for sentencing, his artistic merit was
further questioned by the reformed guerrilla graffiti artist turned
establishment darling Ben "Eine" Flynn, whose work was presented to the
US president, Barack Obama, by the prime minister, David Cameron, last
year.

"His statement is Tox, Tox, Tox, Tox, over and over again," said Flynn
after the trial at Blackfriars crown court, in which he gave evidence as
an expert witness. In his opinion, the Tox "tags" or signatures, and
"dubs" (the larger, often bubble lettering) were "incredibly basic" and
lacking "skill, flair or unique style".

Halpin, found guilty of seven counts of criminal damage, was convicted
alongside Daniel "CK1" Fenlon, 25, from Bristol, who was found guilty of
one count. Goldsmith College student Gordon McDermott, 24, who the
prosecution alleged was known as Cut and sometimes Miz, was acquitted.

Nicholas "Host" Rowley, a former student at Edinburgh College of Art,
and Riga "Rigz" Paizis, who worked in a graffiti shop, both admitted six
counts of criminal damage and await sentencing along with Halpin and
Fenlon.

The five were arrested as part of British Transport Police's (BTP)
Operation Misfit, which claimed to have identified their tags in Paris,
Lille, London, Glasgow, Bristol, Leicester, Market Harborough,
Kettering, Chippenham, and even on a funeral home in Bath.

Halpin – whose tag is simply Tox followed by the last two digits of the
year – had claimed he was the victim of imitators. He said he had
"retired" in 2005 after a career defacing buses, trains, bridges and
walls earned him a string of asbos, which he largely ignored, and
community service orders.

Cashing in on his notoriety, he is said to have made £9,000 in two hours
by selling pictures with his Tox tag. Reports in 2009 that he was
selling 100 canvasses bearing his notorious mark, at £75 each,
precipitated heated debate. Purists condemned him for "selling out",
while legal experts mused over whether a loophole made him impervious to
the Proceeds of Crime Act.

But far from retiring, the Blackfriars jury was told, Halpin – acclaimed
"king of taggers" by graffiti magazine Crack and Shine – had remained
active and been caught on CCTV in Paris and London. The jury heard that
what he lacked in talent he made up for in unrivalled willingness to
scramble to hard-to-reach and risky spots.

"I don't know where you can't see a Tox tag – they are in places even I
don't know how to access," one London Underground manager once admitted.

Debunking Halpin's defence of an army of imitators, Lodge told the jury:
"Every time he talks about being Tox, his face lights up. He can't help
but smile. He hasn't retired. He has turned professional. To maintain
this, he has to keep getting his tag up. It's everywhere, and it's him."

Following Tuesday's verdict, judge Peter Clarke QC said of Halpin, who
has spent 150 days in custody since his arrest: "The simple fact is the
evidence effectively says he hasn't given up."


Looking at this YouTube clip taken from a 2004 tv programme - he has
been inside before, but that hasn't stopped him:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WNSex...eature=related

Paul