The judge enquired about his North Island roots and Randell said he was from Hastings.
It was during his time there as a teenager that he made headlines, thanks to Judge Tony Adeane who jailed him for 28 days for tagging three buildings and a concrete pillar in 2008.
The judge said the sentence was "a signal to you and your friends that the penalty for graffiti in Hawke's Bay will be imprisonment, until such time as there is some sign this self-indulgent, egocentric behaviour is abating".
"He was just making an example of me," the defendant said yesterday. "It was a bit harsh."
"[Jail] wasn't that flash."
But the stint behind bars did not have the desired effect.
Randell, who said he came Dunedin to study art, was in court for similar offending in October last year.
On that occasion he tagged two words on a King Edward St billboard, 1m by 3m in size.
Randell yesterday claimed that example was "more artistic".
His lawyer, Sophia Thorburn, said her client committed the tagging offence out of boredom.
"He says he was thinking at the time that the billboard needed sprucing up," she said.
"He takes great pride in his artwork but needs to find the right canvas for his art."
Judge Crosbie took a similar stance.
"There are places reserved for this type of work now. If you've got an artistic bent there's some legitimate outlets for it," he said.
"If you do have artistic talent good on you but put it on a canvas or somewhere someone wants it."
If Randell came back to court again, the judge said he would take the same approach as Judge Adeane had previously.
Randell was adamant he would not reoffend.
He was sentenced to 100 hours' community work.