3:55pm Wednesday 5th March 2008
By Helen Husbands
A tagger has been jailed for spraying his girlfriend's name on trains and stations causing more than £30,000 of damage.
Raymond Agbegah, of Streatham, tagged depots in Streatham Hill and Strawberry Hill and railway stations at Streatham Hill, Streatham, Norbury and North Dulwich.
The unemployed 24-year-old went on a crime spree last October, vandalising the rail network in south London and the southern Home Counties.
British Transport Police officers were able to link Agbegah with the tags Emma' and I love Emma' after they established it was the name of his girlfriend.
He also used the tag milk', which he was previously convicted for using on the railways.
Sentencing him today, Judge Martin Beddoe said Agbegah was a persistent offender who was making his fifteenth court appearance and had 58 previous convictions.
"As you know and as I am sure has been said to you many times before, persistent graffiti is, at the very least, an expensive nuisance," he said.
"Such behaviour calls for a sentence of deterrence to persuade you and others who might be inclined to do so from indulging in this sort of behaviour.
"It is done for no better purpose than for your own satisfaction and self advertisement without regard to anyone else."
BTP Area Crime Unit PC Ian Garden said Agbegah was a prolific vandal who initially came to the court's attention 10 years ago.
"Vandalism is a senseless act. Agbegah foolishly risked his life to trespass on railway property to deface property for his own selfish pleasure," he said.
"His actions resulted in trains being taken out of service, so they could be cleaned, causing inconvenience to members of the public who use the railway system.
"I am pleased the court today has highlighted the seriousness of this offence by imposing a jail sentence."
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