Two years jail for one of Britain's most prolific graffiti vandals » Communities » 24dash.com

One of Britain's most prolific graffiti vandals, who was once paid to deface the Eastenders' set, was jailed for two years today.

Andrew Gillman (pictured), head of the DPM Crew, used a false name to dupe programme makers into giving him a job while on bail following a two-year international rampage costing "millions" of pounds.

The casual work - two visits to Elstree Studios in Hertfordshire just before Christmas - came after producers decided his distinctive "tags"
would add a touch of authenticity to the place.

By the time he finished 11 examples of his quick drying "street art" - "DPM", his own tag "NEAS", and "MOOD", a tribute or "shout" to dead graffiti artist James Dutka - adorned some of the BBC soap's best-known landmarks.

They included the Queen Vic, Albert Square's street sign, Phil Mitchell's car lot and workshop, a stall outside Kathy's Cafe, Peter Beale's fish and chip shop, the Argee Bhajee Indian restaurant, and "last but not least" the entrance to Walford East tube station.

London's Southwark Crown Court heard it was not until much later programme makers discovered "Eddie Jones" was Gillman, the "main mover and organiser" behind 120 night time attacks on Britain's stations, trains and railway rolling stock.

His gang was also responsible for a number of cross-Channel "expeditions".

Wherever they went they caused extensive damage, landed companies with "massive" clean-up bills, and caused inconvenience to thousands of commuters as scores of carriages were taken out of service.

Judge Christopher Hardy said: "I have seen some examples of your handiwork and they show considerable talent in the field known as graffiti sub-culture that is on its way to be recognised as a valid form of art.

"This was a wholesale self-indulgent campaign to damage property on an industrial scale.

"Over the whole period the figure of damages is likely to run into seven figures," he added.

Gillman, 25, of St John's Hill, Wandsworth Common, south west London, and seven others admitted conspiracy to commit criminal damage between January 1, 2004, and June 28, 2006.

In the dock were Matthew Tanti, 23, of Holsmbury Court, Upper Tooting Road, south-west London (12 months jail suspended for a year and a 200-hour unpaid work order); Slav Zinoviev, 25, who shared Gillman's place (18 months jail); Ziggy Grudzinskas, 25, of Ulundi Road, in nearby Greenwich (18 months); Alex McClelland, 24 Croxted Road, West Dulwich, south-east London (nine months suspended for a year and 150-hour unpaid work order); and Jack Binnie, 26, of Adelaide Avenue (12 months suspended for a year and a 200-hour unpaid work order); Paul Stewart, 26, from Manor Lane (18 months jail), and Matthew Pease, 24, of Manor Lane (15 months) - all Lewisham, south-east London.

The sentences were greeted with tears and gasps from a packed public gallery. Then, as those given immediate jail sentences were led to the cells, there was a round of applause.

Earlier this year two other members of the gang were dealt with.

James Teasdale, 21, from Dulwich, south-east London, was conditionally discharged and ordered to pay £300 compensation after admitting a single of causing criminal damage to Merseyrail, while Mark Goss, 22, from Sidcup, Kent, who pleaded guilty to a similar offence, was jailed for 10 months.

After the case Detective Superintendent Michael Field, of the British Transport Police, who led the 20-strong investigation team, said: "These vandals thought they were untouchable.

"They would often be masked and conducted almost military style operations in the belief that nothing could be proved against them.

"This was major crime on a vast scale.

"Graffiti not only scars the railway environment, it contributes to the fear of crime and costs operators thousands of pounds in equipment downtime as well as cleaning. Those costs have to be born by someone, and that someone is ultimately the fare paying passenger," he said.

"Graffiti is an attack on the community and the environment. It is anti-social and destructive and it's a crime we take very seriously. The people who have been convicted are certainly only part of the DPM crew. We will continue to be proactive in investigating and prosecuting graffiti crime wherever it occurs on the rail system," the officer added.

Earlier, the court heard about Gillman's brief experience with legal graffiti.

"Shortly before Christmas 2007, Gillman gained casual employment with the BBC... for £500 a day," said David Durose, prosecuting.

The court heard the defendant, described by the judge as the "founding member of the DPM", used the pseudonym "Eddie Jones" to get the job.

The barrister said the EastEnders' Art Department wanted him to "assist them in decorating the outdoor set for that programme, which is not in the East End at all, but part of the BBC's studios in Elstree.

"He tagged 'NEAS', 'DPM' and references to 'MOODY" all over the EastEnders set. If you watch that programme, you may well have seen them in the background," he added.

The barrister said the gang's attacks left railway companies with repair bills of at least £10,000 a time, although on occasions this figures rose to as much £50,000 when it was necessary to repaint a complete carriage.

The gang's activities were so extensive that even during the three-month police surveillance operation leading up the arrests the bill totalled £240,000.

"Using these figure it's easy to see how over a two-year period of operation the bill would run into millions."

He went to explain that apart from DPM's activities in Britain, there was "substantial" evidence about the gang's activities in Amsterdam and Paris.

Amongst other things was a letter sent to Gillman by the French authorities about his arrest for a Metro station graffiti attack demanding "thousand of euros worth of compensation".

Two graffiti "writers" from the French capital even enjoyed an "exchange visit" to London to demonstrate their talents.

In addition, a number of incriminating videos and mobile phone records were recovered by police, while a Czech newspaper article was found in one gang member's home.

The court heard it carried interviews with some of those there about attending a "graffiti workshop" in the former Iron Curtain country to teach "young fans of street art how to use spray paints".

The barrister explained Gillman and his gang were behind "persistent and substantial acts of vandalism.

"From 2004 up until the defendants' arrests in 2006, this group, who called themselves the DPM Crew, caused frequent and substantial damage to trains, railway rolling stock and other infrastructure."

He said although "mainly active in south London" there was evidence of vandalism in Southport, Liverpool and Manchester, on the private East Somerset railway line during a "graffiti away weekend" and on the Sunderland metro system.

Paris and Amsterdam also fell victim to the gang's activities, with "manic tagging" in the French capital in particular.

He said Gillman was clearly the DPM's "main mover or organiser... indeed, very little DPM activity did not involve him."

The barrister said the gang's organisation was obvious when a British Transport Police officer was on a recently attacked train pulling into London Bridge.

As it arrived he noticed some of the defendants filming it.

"This illustrates the level of organisation of this crew. They knew - how I do not know - when the train was coming into the station and which platform it was going to use."

Mr Durose said, as in this case, it was part of the mindset of graffiti vandals who "often took photographs or video film of the train straight after or at the time of the vandalism.

"This is done in order to post their activities on internet websites dedicated to graffiti and to share the images with others in the graffiti scene".

The court heard eventually the "sheer volume" of the gang's attacks put police on their trail.

After connecting "particular tags to particular people", officers put some gang members under surveillance.

In addition, "covert" cameras were installed at a number of train yards to catch them in the act.

Finally, in June 2006, Gillman and three others were detained after a night time expedition to Orpington. Other arrests followed.