2 sydney graffiti writers die in drain tragedy

25.01.08

2 graffiti writers from australia are dead and the 27-year-old owner of a sydney located graffiti store is lucky to be alive after they were swept down a stormwater drain in Sydney’s east on Sunday

SYDNEY Sydney police were yesterday deciding whether to charge the survivor of a flash flood that swept him out to sea but drowned two companions trapped in a stormwater drain.

Reportedly drunk and saved by father and son surfers who saw him waving desperately in pounding seas off Lurline Bay, near Maroubra, the 27-year-old’s survival is being called a miracle.

His two companions a 25-year-old man and a 22-year-old woman drowned after being pinned to the iron bars of a grating at the end of the drain, about 1km from where they had been painting graffiti when the flood surged in.

The pair died despite frantic and heroic attempts to save them by lifeguards, who themselves had to battle to survive. They were caught by floodwaters that poured into the drain after storms dumped torrential rain on Sydney on Sunday, prompting new warnings about the dangers of entering drains that have become playgrounds for urban cavers and thrillseekers.

A caver told the Sydney Morning Herald that the drain in which the pair died was known by locals as “the fortress”. Others told ABC radio the drain was used by teenagers to “sewerslide” – washing down the drain on their bodyboards.Police were yesterday discussing the sealing of the drain with Sydney Water, and Inspector Eddie Bosch told the ABC the survivor could be charged. “He’s possibly entering enclosed lands at least and we’ll certainly be looking at that.”

The three had entered the drain at about 5.30pm on Sunday to paint graffiti, and had apparently not seen the massive front of black clouds that released a deluge on the city. Caught without warning, they were swept toward the ocean and pounded against a metal grill about 2m in diameter covering the outlet into the sea.

The survivor managed to squeeze through some of the bent bars, and was hurled into the sea, where he was seen by 17-year-old Luke Simmons.

Simmons and his father Steve grabbed their surfboards, plunged into the water and pulled him to safety.

“When I got out there I realised that this guy was completely drunk,” Luke Simmons told ABC radio. “I had to physically grab his arm and strap the board [using the leg rope] to him to make sure he didn’t fall off.”

Steve Simmons told Channel Nine the man had immediately run back to the drain, to learn that his companions were dead. “He was just distraught on the rock ledge next to the situation where they were and we just had to drag him back away from it, otherwise he would have been back in the drink.”

Lifeguards Peter Halcro and Paul Moffat forced their way into the drain after the trapped pair, risking their own lives as pounding water and large surf threatened to take them as well.Moffat had been pinned to the outlet bars for a time. “When we were actually inside the stormwater drain the whole drain was going dark, with the surf pounding up through the drain,” Halcro told ABC radio. “Everything went dark for a few seconds for us while the bodies were just floating around. There was also stormwater coming out the other way, so we were dealing with dirty water and large surf.”Last night AAP reported that extensive flooding and heavy rain continued across Queensland. About 1000 people fled their homes as the Queensland town of Emerald braced for major flooding overnight.

The graffiti tagger who survived being washed down a flooded stormwater drain with two friends who died is one of the largest suppliers of spray paint to street artists and taggers in Sydney.

Michael Gustav Malinowski, 27, the owner of paint supply shop Five Six Seven on King Street, Newtown, was “devastated over the loss of two of his closest friends”, who drowned when trapped inside the Lurline Bay outlet during a torrential storm on Sunday, his younger brother Adam said yesterday.

Mr Malinowski is refusing to leave his Pennant Hills home, where he has been convalescing since the tragedy that killed Holly Legge, 21, of St Peters and Dwayne La Rossa, 25, of West Pennant Hills.

Instead, Mr Malinowski, who is known by the graffiti tag “Mik”, left it to his younger brother to speak on his behalf as the deaths underground were discussed on graffiti culture websites in Australia and overseas.

One message posted on a Tasmanian website said simply “RIP Flaps and Banish”, the tag names used by Ms Legge, who went to St George TAFE, and Mr La Rossa.

Graffiti squad police confirmed yesterday that Mr La Rossa was known to the unit, with past offences ranging from drugs, goods in custody and assault.

As police continue to investigate how the trio came to be trapped five storeys underground and whether criminal charges may arise other than trespass, Adam Malinowski said it was the first time that his brother and two friends had ventured into the drain.

Adam Malinowski, who said he too was close friends with Mr Legge and Mr La Rossa, fought to hold back tears when he said the group were “artists” and not part of the Sydney Cave Clan, a group that explore tunnels.

“I guess my brother is taking it worse out of all my friends,” he said.

“He has to deal with the fact he is the only one who survived and his friends perished. He went back and tried to save them, but it was too late.

“The graffiti they were doing [inside the drainage outlet] was true art. It was like a mural.

“It just happened that they chose to do it at the wrong place, wrong time. It just happened in an instant. [Michael said] there was a big sound … like thunder. He’s probably thinking why was he the only one to survive.”

“He is still traumatised, he is still grieving over the loss of his two friends and has had some counselling. It is the first time that someone close to Michael has died, so he is feeling terrible. You just can’t imagine how the families are feeling,” Adam Malinowski said.

Sunday’s disastrous venture follows encounters with the law by Michael Malinowski that included an unsuccessful attempt by police to close his Newtown paint shop or restrict the types of sprays he could sell.

On April 4, 2006, he was arrested while painting on a wall of the M2 Motorway at Beecroft. He was convicted, fined $400 and ordered to pay $67 court costs.

On December 12, 2006, he was convicted for selling spray paint to a minor, fined $650 and also ordered to pay $67 court costs.

In an interview with The Sun-Herald after his shop opened in 2005, Michael Malinowski said he was determined to educate the area’s youth about the do’s and don’ts of “street art”.

He was responding to concerns that his business would become a one-stop shop for vandals.

But he said: “There will always be a minority who do the wrong thing, who would probably do the wrong thing if the shop was here or not … it’s our responsibility to try to educate people to use these products for art and not vandalism.”

After his conviction for vandalising the M2 wall he said: “I pleaded guilty because I did the wrong thing. I don’t really want to say any more. I’d prefer it if you didn’t write anything. This shop is my livelihood.”

The Premier, Morris Iemma, said yesterday he saw no need for Sydney Water to remove maps of tunnels and drains from its website despite the tragedy.

Mr Iemma said Sydney Water was working with police in investigations into the incident but said staying out of drains should be a matter of simple common sense.

“Regardless of where you get the information from, whether you access it from the web, whether you get it from the newspaper or whether you just get it by driving around, these are not places for you to be,” Mr Iemma said.

“It is in the territory of personal responsibility.

“Whether it’s a drain or a train, graffiti can lead to deadly consequences or serious injury. That doesn’t underscore the devastation that the families are feeling and my heart goes out to them.”