His Majesty’s Courts & Tribunals Service seems to be digging in for a new phase in its battle with the graffiti artist who signs himself Banksy.

Obiter readers will remember that, back in September, HMCTS moved quickly to cover up and then scrub away the image of a gavel-wielding member of the judiciary on the wall of the Queen's Building, Royal Courts of Justice. Alas for the RCJ's scrubbers, the erasure left a faint monochrome shadow which attracted a steady stream of tourists on their way to Carey Street's world-renowned Seven Stars pub. 

But the RCJ does not give up that easily. This week the offending artwork was solidly screened off behind a wooden shed, complete with a padlocked door. So that more drastic attempts at removal can now be taken, out of the public eye? No doubt it will all go on Banksy's bill, if and when the RCJ tipstaff ever tracks him down. 

Banksy hoarding

A shed covering the Banksy graffiti on the Queen's Building, Royal Courts of Justice

Source: Michael Cross

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