Quixotic graffiti artist jailed for two years

A love-struck graffiti artist who habitually immortalised his heart's desire in paint was jailed for two years today.

For weeks "persistent offender" Raymond Agbegah sprayed trains and stations with massive multi-coloured 3.7m (12ft) banners declaring: "I love Emma".

It was the latest in a series of nocturnal defacement of railway property spanning nearly a decade, resulting in hundreds of thousand of pounds of damage.

But the court also heard that the graffiti artist's recent spate of vandalism had a tragic history.

Richard Gowthorpe, defending, revealed that his client had tried to clean up his act, particularly after his girlfriend, Emma Petts, had given birth to their first child last year.

But following the infant's death, Agbegah "regressed" to his old ways, Gowthorpe said.

Petts is now heavily pregnant and is expecting their daughter in a month, but Agbegah's sentence means it is unlikely he will be at the birth.

Unfortunately for the IT student, Southern Trains, South West trains and Network Rail, was in no mood to sympathise, pointing to their hefty clean-up bill in excess of £32,000.