Surveyor jailed after double life as graffiti vandal

Kristian Holmes, 32, a surveyor at RI Building Services, was jailed after being convicted of spray-painting trains, railway buildings and a café over a period of seven years.

In all there were 39 counts of criminal damage against Holmes and one of conspiring to pervert the course of justice, with his graffiti inflicting over £250,000 worth of damage.

According to the Times, prosecutor James Murray-Smith told the jury at Blackfriars Crown Court yesterday that Holmes was “a prolific graffiti vandal”.

“We are not talking here about witty imaginative images such as those I expect you are familiar with by Banksy … I would suggest what you are dealing with is simple damage,” he said.

The Times said Holmes was caught writing his tag on a café in Brick Lane, East London, in 2009. He was released after telling police he was only reading the graffiti, but was later arrested at work in Bromley, and investigators later found an A-Z map charting where he had spray-painted across London, along with 22 spray cans and paint-spattered gloves.

He was convicted of trying to pervert the course of justice for posting a series of YouTube videos that appeared to show another man painting his tag in an attempt to derail the investigation.

According to the Times, his defence lawyer told the court that his client had “matured” considerably since his arrest, meeting his partner and becoming a father in that time.

“It is very sad to see a well-qualified gentleman, a surveyor who built up a successful career, have that career effectively shattered by proven misbehaviour,” he said.