London Underground graffiti vandal claimed he was ‘creating a job for the person cleaning it’

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A graffiti vandal who caused over £130,000 worth of damage to the London Underground claimed he was “creating a job for the person cleaning it”.

Bacari Adams, 33, was caught red-handed when officers discovered his favourite tag was the very same one tattooed on his knuckles.

Dozens of trains and stations were damaged by Adams totalling 77 offences - all committed across the city railway system.

British Transport Police officers first started investigating the 33-year-old in 2016 by interviewing people who said they had seen someone trespassing onto the railway, sometimes in the dead of night, and scrawling tags on trains and other property.

When enough evidence was accumulated, Adams and a second man, 31-year-old Jake Martin, were arrested at their homes in December 2018.

Their phones included decisive evidence, officers said, as it included pictures of their vandalism which they had kept as trophies.

Text and WhatsApp messages were also found which showed they planned more vandalism on trains and railway property.

In an interview with police in January 2019, where Adams was shown CCTV footage of him writing his tag on a London Overground train, he admitted the offences.

He said: “Sorry, I’m not going to do it again. I can’t deny catching me red-handed, only an idiot would deny that”.

Adams, of Enfield, was jailed for six months at Inner London Crown Court on Wednesday 13 October. He pleaded guilty to conspiring to destroy or damage property.

Martin, of Tottenham, also pleaded guilty and was sentenced to 15 months in prison suspended for 18 months.

The damage caused to the railway totalled £133,817.

Alom Uddin, from British Transport Police, said: “This was a long and thorough investigation. We were committed to securing enough evidence to link Mr Adams and Mr Martin to the dozens of crimes committed across the London railway network.

“Graffiti on the railway is inherently dangerous.

“It often involves trespassing onto the railway lines, which can be charged with electricity, or have trains constantly passing through. It also costs the railway network significant sums of money and disrupts services while carriages are cleaned.

“We’re committed to identifying anyone committing these acts on the railway and will invest significant resources and time to ensure they’re brought before the courts.”

SWNS