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6-18 Months For Graffiti - Please Write Letters Of Support

kk | 23.12.2009 11:18

Free boms
Free boms


The article has finally gone up as I've seen on a few news websites and surprisingly there are still no tags put on any of the names which is not something you usually see. The British Transport Police claim that they are aware and charged each person with a certain tag but I will not post any of their tags up as I don't know exactly what they were charged for at this time.

I've tried getting answers out of people that were present but they are just idiots to tell you the truth, I've had about 10 different answers to who got sentenced with what, all from people that were present in the court including gf's, family and friends aswell.

The official sentences that were handed out are:-

Scott - 18 months
Ben - 6 months
Frazer - 15 months
Stephen - 6 months & 2 years suspended
Adam - 15 months
Jason - 9 months

A few comments from an article:

Howard Collins, Chief Operating Officer of London Underground said:

“The group’s actions cost thousands of pounds and resulted in trains being taken out of service. As well as causing unnecessary delays and distress to our passengers, they also put their own lives in danger.

“Criminal damage creates an intimidating atmosphere which is why we work hard to maintain a clean and pleasant network for our customers. We will be taking civil action to recover the debt that their damage created and will continue to devote significant and growing resources to visible policing across the transport system to make sure passengers feel comfortable and safe.”

Crown Prosecution Service London lawyer Olwen Evans said:

“This was an organised and prolific gang who worked together to plan attacks in order to cause disruption and delays. The estimated cost of these actions may be far higher if you take into account the losses suffered by the train companies as a result of these carriages being out of service.”

“The strength of the evidence which was to be put to the court by the Crown Prosecution Service is what led these defendants to plead guilty.

“Together with the British Transport Police, we gathered together a strong file of evidence which included photographs found on the defendants home computers. These pictured the defendants in the act of vandalising trains. These images allowed us to establish what the defendants ‘tags’ were and meant we could identify what damage they had each caused.”
-----------



Knockturnal Kniggins, Chief Operating Officer at GraffLondon said:

I wish them all the best. How can we take this authority seriously when there are non violent young men being sent into prison with murderers and vicious other criminals. Their crimes were non violent and victim-less yet they are being sent to prison longer than rapists, pedophiles, people carrying knives and all other sorts of scum that are a disease to this once great city.
Painting graffiti on trains is wrong, and should be illegal, however, prison does not work and thats a fact. A criminal college which is not the place for these gents.

Have they forgotten about the young graffiti artist who took his life while inside not so long ago?

The justice system continues to be a joke.

I hope all responsible individuals involved in this have as much trouble sleeping as the 6 will in their new homes



>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Ben Standen BX3235
Jason Newman BX3237

HMP Ford
Arundel
West Sussex
BN18 0BX

Scott Offord BX3238
Adam Baigent BX3239

HMP Wormwood Scrubs, P.O. Box 757, Du Cane Road, London, W12

Frazer is being moved so we'll have the new address as soon as he does. Feel free to write/sketch and show support, especially over the festive period.

kk

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getting caught and then moaning about it afterwards

23.12.2009 12:42

1. You may not realise, but one of the main reasons for sending people to prison is not to reform people, it is actually to protect the rest of us from their illegal and damaging actions. If these people are in prison, then they won't be putting their names on every blank surface.

2. Its the same story every time: The ones that don't get caught boast about their exploits. People only show remorse / are sorry / are indignant about their punishment AFTER they have been caught. So, no amount of crying or pleading is going to affect anyones judgement of them.


3. They are adults. Part of being an adult is taking responsibility for your own actions.
I don't particularly like working - I could rob a bank instead. But I look at the risks and the pros and cons and ultimately decide "You know what.... its just not worth the risk."

I'd be crying like a baby if I got sent to prison. Therefore, I don't do things that will put me in that situation. They CHOSE to do what they did knowing the consequences. Whats the use of a threat of prison if its not implemented afterwards?

There is plenty of information available in the public domain about the level of punishment they would of receive for doing the amount of graffiti they did. And its pretty obvious even to someone that is stupid enough to write their own name on a wall.

If they were really worried about being sent to prison, then they could of made those judgements BEFORE doing the graffiti, not AFTER they were caught.

Merry christmas.

Dave


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No one wants grafitti

23.12.2009 13:18

When I see one of these posts about people being jailed for grafitti it's always posted with a beautiful piece pictured. Most grafitti is ugly and brings down the image of an area. If you go to an area with loads of grafitti, would you think 'oh this is a nice place' or would you think 'this place is rough'. It costs millions of pounds of tax payers money to get rid of it not to mention the nasty chemicals they have to use to get it off. I think these sentences send out a strong message to others.

Ruby


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...

23.12.2009 13:20

> but one of the main reasons for sending people to prison is not to reform people, it is actually to protect the rest of us from their illegal and damaging actions.

Nobody needs protecting from "illegal" actions, simply because they are illegal, except the state, which needs to assert its authority everywhere. Graffiti isn't so damaging to anyone that people ought to be locked up for it. Even the subjective harm bombing a train does ( colour vs. aesthetic order - it's your preference) is minimal in the minds of any reasonable person.

Society won't even keep psychopaths like Peter Tobin locked up to protect us, because it costs too much. Draconian sentences like these have nothing to do with justice. They are simply a form of revenge by the state or corporations who control the system in response to attacks on what they truly hold dear, namely property.


not a member of the resident troll community


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fuck off

23.12.2009 13:41

who are u fucking people, young boys are in prison for nothing and u sit in your safe homes and your boring lives thinking its a good thing. Fuck off get your own web site to spred your fucked up views. you grumberling trolls need the state and you need prisons and police beasue if they wernt there and i had to put up with the shit thAT comes outta your mouth i would kill you. enjoy your shitty lives and prey that you still have fascitst states that condem artists to jail cause when that all falls i'm commming for you.....

(i know this place is not for theats but wats gona make these people fuck off!????!!!)

Real Anachist


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Pay no attention to...

23.12.2009 14:15

... Ruby (well known fascist Troll) and Dave the pillock.... Do not feed them folks and they will crawl back to the sewers they arrived from!

@narchist


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Support

23.12.2009 15:47

Who are we supposed to be supporting for what? They got locked up for criminal damage, and about time too.

AH


support

23.12.2009 16:15

Trains and the transport infrastructure isn't "property". It is an alternative form of transport that we are trying to get people to use instead of the cars. How is that going to be achieved if they look like scruffy areas of high crime out of the bronx?

They would continue forever until someone puts a stop to their antics. One less group of people making the the place look like some rundown neighbourhood can only be a good thing. If a custodial sentence is what it takes then so be it.

If trains were clean and pleasent, perhaps more people would use them and we wouldn't have to die a horrible death from climate change.


average joe


More please, artists.

23.12.2009 17:12

I use trains, and would happily do so if they were covered in graffiti - look at berlin, one of the most beautiful cities of europe and covered in graffiti.

More of it on trains please.

@


The Bronx.....

23.12.2009 22:04


Isn't an area of high crime... I should know, I have been there. It's got some amazing street art too.

Fly Poster


Railways look better with graffiti

23.12.2009 22:09

I think railways look better with a bit of graffiti on - it brightens the place up. If it's just a monochrome tag repeated numerous times it doesn't look good, but a nice colourful image is great.

If I ruled the world I can tell you these graffiti artists would be getting medals, not prison.

anon


Talentless losers

28.12.2009 00:02

It's so fucking arrogant to inflict crap grafitti on the public. If it had a hard political edge and targeted say offensive billboards and their capitalist message then fine but most of it is about as sophisticated as a dirty dog cocking its leg around the neighbourhood. Large stylised tags and nothing else is not art, not political and just shouts me, me me. Fucking inflated egotistical crap.

sid


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