Train vandal sentenced for £17,000 damage spree (From Surrey Comet)

Train vandal sentenced for £17,000 damage spree

2:13pm Wednesday 28th January 2009 in News

A bored man who spent hours vandalising rail property was sentenced today for causing nearly £17,000 damage to trains and trams in south London and Surrey.

Sean Kinsella, 22, of Limpsfield Rd, Sanderstead pleaded guilty to seven charges of criminal damage between May 2007 and March 2008 for vandalism at Streatham Hill depot, Coombe Way Tram Depot, Norwood Junction, East Croydon and South Croydon railway stations, Fairfield Road rail bridge and Selhurst rail depot.

The graffiti vandal received an eight-month suspended sentence at Southwark Crown Court.

He was also handed a 12-month supervision order, a six-month curfew and five-year ASBO prohibiting him from possessing graffiti paraphernalia and from entering parts of the railway.

British Transport Police Graffiti Unit PC Ian Garden said Kinsella was responsible for spraying the tag DREAR on trains, trams and other rail property in Croydon, Streatham and Norwood Junction.

He was also linked to the tag KC, short for Kaos Crew.

PC Garden said: "Kinsella was prolific in the Croydon area, regularly engaging in night-time tagging escapades.

"Not only did he break into depots and sidings to commit his crimes, but he risked his life by trespassing on rail property to get access to carriages to deface property."

Kinsella was arrested after BTP mounted an operation to target vandals who commit graffiti offences over the Christmas period when the rail industry comes to a halt.

He was arrested on Boxing Day 2007 and continued to commit offences in 2008, despite being on bail.

"Network Rail, Southern and London trams in Croydon suffered a combined total of £17,000 damage as a direct result of Kinsella’s criminal activity," PC Garden added.

Judge Christopher Hardy said vandalising trains and railway property was a very serious matter.

He said Kinsella was a persistent vandal with criminal offences dating back to 2002 "When [graffiti] is sprayed randomly on other people's property it’s simply vandalism." he said.

"And apart from lowering the tone of areas where it is found, particularly in regard to railway stock and public transport, causes very great inconvenience to the whole of the travelling public."