EastEnders graffiti artist jailed for two years

Published on Friday 11 July 2008 22:08

ONE of Britain's most prolific graffiti vandals, who was once paid to "tag" the EastEnders' set, was yesterday jailed for two years.

Andrew Gillman used a false name to dupe programme- makers into giving him a job while he was on bail.

The casual work came after show producers decided his designs would add a touch of authenticity to the sets. By the time he finished, 11 examples of his "art" adorned some of the BBC soap's best-known landmarks.

They included the Queen Vic, Albert Square's street sign, Phil Mitchell's car lot and workshop, a stall outside Kathy's Caf and the entrance to Walford East Underground station.

London's Southwark Crown Court heard that it was not until much later programme-makers discovered "Eddie Jones" was Gillman, the "main mover and organiser" behind 120 night-time attacks on Britain's stations, trains and railway rolling stock.

His gang was also responsible for a number of cross-Channel expeditions.

Judge Christopher Hardy said: "This was a wholesale self-indulgent campaign to damage property on an industrial scale."

Gillman, 25, of St John's Hill, London, and seven others admitted conspiracy to commit criminal damage between January 2004 and June 2006.