Vandal jailed for rail graffiti
A PROLIFIC spray paint vandal caused thousands of pounds of damage in less than two weeks to trains and stations.
He spray-painted his tag “lyfer” across stations and trains in Bridgend and Cardiff in November and December last year.
A PROLIFIC spray paint vandal caused thousands of pounds of damage in less than two weeks to trains and railway stations.
Rufus Budd, 25, spraypainted his tag “lyfer” across stations and trains in Bridgend and Cardiff between November 23 and December 5 last year.
The cost to repair the damage he caused was £6,700 and resulted in a train having to be taken out of service so it could be cleaned.
Budd was arrested when a train driver smelled a strong odour of spray paint after he boarded a train at Grangetown station in Cardiff on December 5.
Police officers found he was carrying a number of spray paint cans and a knife.
Prosecutor Nigel Fryer told Newport Crown Court: “He is a prolific spray painter on the railway network.”
Mr Fryer told the court the first in a spate of incidents was on November 23 at Bridgend Railway Station.
A security guard noticed the tag “lyfer” had appeared at two locations that day. The cost to clean that graffiti was £1,200.
“The following day at Grangetown Railway Station there was extensive graffiti on the walls, and also on a stationary train,” Mr Fryer said.
On November 25, a tag was discovered at Wildmill station in Bridgend costing £900 to clean.
More graffiti was found at the same station on December 4 and more at Cardiff’s Ninian Park station on the same day resulting in a cleaning bill for £500.
The following day, a driver noticed a strong smell of paint after Budd boarded his train at Grangetown.
Budd was then caught spraying the inside of the train and was later arrested by British Transport Police officers who also found he had a knife with him, but there was no evidence of him “brandishing or actually using” it as a weapon.
Budd has numerous previous convictions for criminal damage and trespassing, the court heard.
Jonathan Lewis, defending, said his client’s offending had been “relatively short lived” and although “unsightly” the graffiti was not “aggressive”.
He said Budd had been admitted to the psychiatric ward of a hospital during the time of his offending.
Budd, of no fixed address, pleaded guilty to six counts of criminal damage, one count of being in possession of a bladed weapon and breach of a community order.
Judge Richard Twomlow said Budd’s offending had caused “inconvenience and cost” to railway companies and passengers.
Budd was sentenced to a total of 16 months in prison and was made the subject of a criminal behaviour order.
He is barred from being in possession of spray paint cans or marker pens on railway property and from being on the railway network without a valid ticket.
He will also have to pay a victim surcharge.