A Kingston man has been given a suspended prison sentence after admitting being part of a graffiti gang which caused £270,000 damage to Tube and train carriages.
Stephen Bryne, 20, of Cardinal Avenue, Kingston, along with five other men, pleaded guilty at Isleworth Court on Friday to more than 125 criminal damage offences between February 2006 and November 2007.
The gang broke into train depots and stations to commit their crimes.
About 40 of the offences were on the Tube and the rest on southern train operators.
They were caught when a car was pulled over in Twickenham by police responding to an automatic number plate recognition alert which linked the car to a champagne theft.
In the boot of the red Fiat Punto, police found an assortment of spray cans, bolt cutters, gloves and several photos of sprayed trains.
BTP Detective Chief Inspector Kevin Shanahan said: "Cameras at stations and depots filmed their brazen acts of vandalism and we used this footage to get clear facial images of them.
"They were intent on criminality and went to great lengths to plan their attacks on trains.
"They did not commit random acts of vandalism but conspired together to go out and commit crime.
"During one house search we found more than 400 photographs of the damage they had caused to trains."
Howard Collins, chief operating officer of London Underground said: "The group’s actions cost thousands of pounds and resulted in trains being taken out of service.
"As well as causing unnecessary delays and distress to our passengers, they also put their own lives in danger.
"Criminal damage creates an intimidating atmosphere which is why we work hard to maintain a clean and pleasant network for our customers.
"We will be taking civil action to recover the debt that their damage created and will continue to devote significant and growing resources to visible policing across the transport system to make sure passengers feel comfortable and safe."
London Crown Prosecution Service lawyer Olwen Evans said: "This was an organised and prolific gang who worked together to plan attacks in order to cause disruption and delays.
"The estimated cost of these actions may be far higher if you take into account the losses suffered by the train companies as a result of these carriages being out of service.
"The strength of the evidence which was to be put to the court by the Crown Prosecution Service is what led these defendants to plead guilty.
"Together with the British Transport Police, we gathered together a strong file of evidence which included photographs found on the defendant's home computers.
"These pictured the defendants in the act of vandalising trains.
"These images allowed us to establish what the defendants ‘tags’ were and meant we could identify what damage they had each caused."
Scott Offord, 21, of Jillian Close in Hampton was sentenced to 18 months in prison.
Benjamin Standen, 21, of Chaplin Crescent, Sunbury, was sentenced to six months in prison.
Fraser Howie, 23, of Ailsa Road, Twickenham was sentenced to 15 months in prison.
Stephen Byrne, 20, of Cardinal Ave, Kingston, Surrey was sentenced to six months in prison but the sentence was suspended for two years.
Adam Baigent, 21, of The Allders, Hanworth was sentenced to 15 months in prison.
Jason Newman, 22, of Sunbury Road, Feltham was sentenced to nine months in prison.
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