British backpacker faces prison for ‘Scouser Lee’ graffiti on sacred wall
A BACKPACKER from Liverpool could face 10 years in prison after being charged with drunkenly graffiti-ing his name on a sacred wall in Thailand.
Officials said Lee Furlong, 23, had a d mi t te d s p ray-p a i n t i n g the 13th century Tha Phae Gate in the resort of Chiang Mai.
The message appears to read “Scousse Lee”, but it is allegedly meant to say “Scouser Lee” in a reference to Liverpool. Underneath is the initial “B” — apparently belonging to Canadian tourist Brittney Schneider, who was also arrested along with Furlong.
Police major Anon Cherdchutrakulthong said Furlong and Schneider had “admitted the crime”. He added: “When people visit somewhere they should know not to leave graffiti.” The pair were arrested at the Mad Monkey hostel in Chiang Mai after CCTV footage of people tagging the wall went viral.
Police said Furlong and Schneider both “showed signs of having been intoxicated” and could face up to 10 years in jail if found guilty. They could also be fined up to £23,500.
Furlong and Schneider were paraded in front of journalists when they were taken on a re-enactment of the incident at the gate today. It is considered one of the most famous landmarks in Chiang Mai, in the north of the country, and is part of a crumbling wall that once protected the old city. The graffiti was scrubbed off by municipal workers.
Police said Furlong and Schneider, who have been charged with public mischief and damaging city property, told them they had been with friends at a nearby restaurant and got drunk.
They were walking back to their hostel when they allegedly found spray paint lying on the ground and decided to graffiti the wall as a “prank”. They only stopped when a passing tuk-tuk driver remonstrated with them.
Furlong is alleged to have told officers they did not realise it was illegal to paint the wall and claimed that it was an act of “artistic expression”.
Another local police spokesman, Lieutenant Colonel Teerasak Sriprasert, said: “The graffiti says ‘Scousse Lee’. This means ‘Scouser Lee from Liverpool’. The girl is called Brittney and she wrote the letter ‘B’ on the wall. Officers investigated the vandalism after it was seen on CCTV cameras.”
The i n c i d e n t wa s c a p t u re d by a
The man told us he did not realise it was illegal, and said that it was an act of artistic expression
Thai police
security camera at the nearby CoolMuang Coffee shop.
The manager, Thorranin Chaweechan, said he saw the graffiti when he was rewinding the CCTV recording to see what had been happening, and decided to post it on social media.