The Man Who Vandalised Eurydice Dixon’s Memorial Has Been Called “Despicable” By A Judge
Fair.
The man who defaced a memorial to murdered Melbourne comedian Eurydice Dixon has been ordered to pay almost $20,000 and perform 200 hours of community service, with a magistrate describing his actions as “despicable”.
Andrew Nolch, 29, painted offensive graffiti over a memorial to Dixon back in June, just hours before thousands of people were due to attend a vigil at the site. That memorial site was where 22-year-old Eurydice Dixon’s body was found by passers-by after she was raped and murdered while walking home from a comedy gig.
A court has ordered Nolch to pay $5000 in restitution to the Melbourne Fire Brigade, which cleaned up graffiti at the time, as well as around $14,500 to Melbourne City Council to replace the turf he damaged.
Magistrate Olivia Trumble told Nolch during sentencing yesterday that “the emotional damage of your conduct is immeasurable”, especially given that Nolch timed his graffiti to “cause as much outrage as possible”.
“Your conduct is inexplicable and your actions despicable. I am at a loss to understand how the image expresses the views that I’m told you hold.”
So appalling. This vile act defacing the memorial for #eurydicedixon with the most despicable graffiti should have meant a jail term. Even outside the court he was still rambling on. Awful. https://t.co/dsFz7fCPbo
— Lucie Morris-Marr (@luciemorrismarr) September 10, 2018
Those views are Nolch’s unapologetic stance on his actions, which he has repeatedly made known. In July, he told The Age he intended the graffiti as “an attack on feminism, on mainstream media for hijacking a vaccine-causing issue and turning it into a men are bad, women’s rights issue”. He also wrote on Facebook that “I did it because I was upset that vaccines caused the killers [sic] autism”.
The man charged with Eurydice Dixon’s rape and murder is 19-year-old Jaymes Todd, who has autism spectrum disorder.
Yesterday, Nolch tweeted similarly unapologetic sentiments, writing “I am an advocate for equal rights for both genders. Not all men are bad! I did the political grafetti [sic] because the mainstream media and feminists turned the tragic murder of Eurydice Dixon into one giant political man hating event, ignoring real possible solutions to the problem.”
I am an advocate for equal rights for both genders. Not all men are bad! I did the political grafetti because the mainstream media and feminists turned the tragic murder of Eurydice Dixon into one giant political man hating event, ignoring real possible solutions to the problem.
— Andy Nolch (@andynolch) September 10, 2018