£3,000 Bill for Teenage 'Graffiti Artist'

12.00.00am BST (GMT +0100) Mon 19th Jun 2006

As the result Thames Valley Police working closely with Milton Keynes Council, a teenager who daubed graffiti trails all over the city has been ordered to pay £3,000 towards the cost of washing it off.

The 18-year-old youth appeared before Milton Keynes magistrates on June 1st and admitted a number of charges of criminal damage.

As well as being told to pay £3,000 compensation, he was also ordered to work 60 hours of community service, and the magistrates also said they were considering issuing an Anti-Social Behaviour Order against him.

Councillor Douglas McCall, Liberal Democrat cabinet member for the environment, said: "This is an excellent result and a very important one. We hope this will send a clear message out to so-called 'taggers' and 'graffiti artists' - if we catch you, you will be punished.

"We are working very closely with Thames Valley Police on tackling this problem, and several other similar prosecutions are n the pipeline. We will continue to crack down on offenders and, as in this case, they will be made to pay for their actions."