Trains vandal jailed for violent disorder at anti-cuts protest

Joseph Binney, 22, of The Roundway, Hull, was sentenced to two years in prison at Kingston Crown Court.

Judge Paul Dodgson said Binney was a member of a violent mob which took part in a series of attacks on property in central London after the TUC protest on March 26.

The attacks led to police vehicles, two banks and a car showroom being damaged.

Binney, who was planning to study graphic design at Leeds Metropolitan University, was also sentenced to three months to run concurrently for criminal damage on eight occasions between December 2009 and October 2010.

His targets included a Northern Rail Service in Leeds, a Hull Train Service at Paragon Station and a Network Rail bridge in Bentley, South Yorkshire. In all he is estimated to have caused £20,000 worth of damage.

Judge Dodgson described graffiti as “the selfish activities of those that think this is art”. In reality, it disfigured the landscape, he said.

Binney had travelled from Hull to London on a coach to take part in the protest.

He was unemployed at the time and not a union member.

His palm print was discovered on the inner door of a Santander bank branch in Piccadilly after it came under attack from a mob.

Binney insisted he did not take part in the disorder. Asked about how his palm print had come to be on the inner door of the bank, he said he had gone to take a look at the damage after the mob had dispersed out of a “mixture of stupidity and nosiness”.

But a jury convicted him of the offence after a trial at the court last month.

Sentencing him, Judge Dodgson said: “I am quite satisfied that you were bent on violence, certainly against property, and you were part of a violent mob that was causing fear on the streets of London.”

He added: “But I recognise that you are 22. Good things are said about you.

“I very much hope that you can rebuild a future for yourself.”

Binney was originally arrested by British Transport Police last June after being seen spray-painting railway arches near the Corn Exchange in Leeds and was handed a caution.

BTP graffiti specialist Sergeant Pete Shaw investigated his tags – signatures put on or next to graffiti – and movements and was able to link him with other graffiti across the railway network.

Sgt Shaw said: “Binney travelled the country vandalising railway property, and has now been jailed for his spree of criminal damage.

“The costs of graffiti damage are substantial for the railway industry in terms of repairs and clean-up, and can leave permanent scars on the infrastructure.

“The financial costs have to be borne by someone, and that someone is ultimately the fare-paying passenger.”

Network Rail spends more than £3.5m a year on the removal of graffiti.

The company said it hoped the sentence acted as a deterrent to others.

A Network Rail spokesperson said: “Graffiti not only looks bad, it also makes passengers and people who live nearby feel unsafe.

“The courts have our full backing when sentencing those who graffiti or damage railway property.”