GRAFFITI has sprung up on hoardings in Portland Street satirising a convicted criminal’s claims that “Aberystwyth is my town and I run it”.

Ellis McGuinness, aged 21 - who attacked three people and threatened to stab a fourth during a crime spree in March - claimed to one victim that “Aberystwyth is my town and I run it”.

He was jailed for 20 months at Swansea Crown Court for attacking strangers he perceived to be from elsewhere after a judge labelled him a “violent thug”.

The story of McGuinness and his comments, featured in the Cambrian News, was greeted with outrage, and now graffiti has appeared on Portland Street mocking his claim.

On the hoardings erected for ongoing work on the corner of Portland Street and Terrace Road, an artist has drawn a seagull with a baseball cap and a gold chain saying the same words McGuinness told a victim during the string of assaults before his arrest and sentencing for the crimes.

In the corner of the topical street art, the text reads “famous last words”.

Judge Paul Thomas at Swansea Crown Court told McGuinness: “It is not your town, it is everyone’s town.

See this week’s Aberystwyth edition for the full story, in shops and online now