An eye-catching front page exposing a notorious graffiti artist looks set to get a result for the Birmingham Evening Mail, writes Dominic Ponsford.
The vandal has caused damage of up to £100,000 after signing his tag “Tarki” on dozens of sites around the city. The Evening Mail devoted its front page on 13 August to 28 pictures of sites where Tarki has struck, with a photo of the wanted man at the centre under the headline: “FIND HIM”.
Police said they were inundated with calls within hours of the Evening Mail going on sale and they are now confident they will track Tarki down. Although at the time of Press Gazette going to press he was still at large.
Sergeant Nigel Collins of Digbeth Police said: “The response has been amazing. We are now confident we will catch this man. I can’t thank the Evening Mail enough because the article looks like giving us the breakthrough we’ve needed in this year-long investigation.”
Mail editor Roger Borrell said: “Street graffiti is one of the main things people in Birmingham complain about. Millions of pounds have been spent making this a city everyone can be really proud of yet this yob feels it is within his rights to go around undoing all that good work.”
He added: “Our front page was certainly different but we felt we had to highlight just how much damage this man had actually caused. We knew our readers would respond and they didn’t disappoint. Hopefully it won’t be long before the police arrest this man and put an end to his handiwork.”
Dominic Ponsford
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