Street art in Burnham-On-Sea created by convicted murderer Owen Pellow has been removed by the Town Council this week after concerns were raised by residents.
Owen Pellow, 43, of Burnham-On-Sea, was found guilty of murdering Lisa-Marie Thornton this week following a trial at Bristol Crown Court.
He stabbed Lisa-Marie Thornton 39 times at her Berrow Road home in November last year and will spend a minimum of 17 years behind bars.
Pellow, right, was an artist in Burnham working under the alias ‘Kallus Spore’ and contributed to a piece of artwork next to Burnham Methodist Church in College Street at the Spray Jam street art festival in 2016.
He painted a robot on a background of stars on the side of the building, shown below.
The artwork was removed by the Town Council on Wednesday afternoon, as pictured above.
Town Council Clerk Tatiana Cant told Burnham-On-Sea.com: “The Town Council has arranged for artwork by Owen Pellow to be removed from the streets of Burnham.”
“On hearing the news of the conviction, the Council moved quickly to ensure that the victim’s family would not be reminded of this terrible deed while out and about in Burnham.”
“All traces of the previous artwork have now disappeared. Thoughts of residents and councillors are with the family as they try to come to terms with this tragic loss.”
It comes after Cllr Nick Tolley had posted on social media on Wednesday morning that the artwork should be removed as it is ‘offensive’ to family and friends of the late Lisa-Marie Thornton.
A spokeswoman for Hallmark Tattoos in College Street, whose studio is in the building, added it is “fully supportive” of the artwork being removed. She added that they had no involvement with the original choice of artist and didn’t know him by name and in no way knew him personally, then or now.
Pictured: Top – the artwork being altered this week by the Town Council; Centre – Owen Pellow; Above – how the artwork looked before the changes
