Three graffiti vandals who travelled from the West Midlands to the capital to tag part of the railway have seen sentenced. Lawrence Davies (21) of Ashbrook Road, Birmingham, Thomas Beamond (20) of Jockey Road, Sutton Coldfield, and David Livingstone (26) of Bills Lane, Birmingham, on Friday, 27 April all pleading guilty to criminal damage at City of London Magistrates’ Court.
They also pleaded guilty to possession of an article with an intention to cause damage. The court heard how the trio left Birmingham on Saturday, 31 March 2012 and boarded a train headed towards London, armed with spray cans, posters, paste and brushes. They had also scaled out a large stencil which they had planned to use to spray their tag with.
After arriving in London, they made their way to Shoreditch at around 1pm and targeted the railway walls close to Pedley Street in Tower Hamlets. There, they used their spray cans to plaster their tags. Rail staff were alerted of the trio’s activities after CCTV in the area caught them in the act.
British Transport Police (BTP) was called and officers carried out a full search of the area, before all three were quickly located close to the scene and arrested. Evidence including spray cans was seized from them as they were taken into custody. Davies, Beamond and Livingstone all pleaded guilty, and were sentenced at City of London Magistrates’ Court.
Davies and Beamond were handed a two year anti-social behaviour order (ASBO) banning them from carrying any spray cans for whatever purpose and told not to enter any part of the railway not open to the public.
Davies was also given a 12 month community order, ordered to work 65 hours unpaid work and told to pay £40 compensation to London Overground. Beamond was fined £150 and ordered to pay £40 compensation to London Overground. Livingstone was fined £160 and ordered to pay £40 compensation to London Overground.
PC Russell McPherson, of BTP’s Investigation Support Unit, said after the case: “All three vandals went out of their way to attack the capital’s essential railway infrastructure and cause criminal damage.
“Graffiti is a blight on our society and becomes an eyesore for many residents who overlook the railway. The tracks they targeted will be used by many visitors to the capital during the Olympic Games to travel from central London to the Olympic Park, and projects have been set across this area to remove these mindless scribbles on private property.
“The costs of graffiti are substantial for the railway industry in terms of repairs and clean-up, and can leave permanent scars on the infrastructure.
“Graffiti will not be tolerated anywhere on the rail network and is nothing more than unwanted vandalism.”
