Article: Graffiti attack costs Queensland Rail $5000

[ozbob]

From Courier Mail click here!

Graffiti attack costs Queensland Rail $5000

Graffiti attack costs Queensland Rail $5000
Article from: The Courier-Mail

Anna Caldwell

October 23, 2008 12:00am

A QUEENSLAND Rail train stunned commuters when it rolled through its morning peak-hour run covered on one side with large splashes of bright graffiti.
The moving mural cost taxpayers $5000 to clean.

The vandalised carriage walls featured no tags (graffiti signatures). Instead, they were covered with carefully crafted splashes of colour.

The offenders left one message - four words in black paint, scrawled over a bright pink and orange background read: "We spit hot fire."

Commuter Joseph Orr described the vandalism as "like stepping on to a comic strip".

"There was hardly a surface left untouched," Mr Orr said.

QR Passenger executive general manager Paul Scurrah said he suspected the vandalism happened Sunday night this week or early Monday morning at the stabling yard.

"The paint had not dried by the morning run," he said.

Mr Scurrah refused to reveal the location of the stabling yard but said all yards had barbed wire fencing and security guards.

Police and QR were analysing closed-circuit television to try to identify the culprits, he said.

In a $5000 operation, several staff from QR Passenger's graffiti clean-up team worked on the carriages for hours on Monday to clean the train before its afternoon peak run.

QR Passenger employs nine people to clean graffiti from trains and spends $500,000 annually on the clean-up program.

Mr Scurrah said he was outraged by the vandalism.

"This is a senseless and selfish act and can put the vandals' lives in danger from moving trains or overhead powerlines," he said. A police spokesman said people had been killed or seriously injured after trespassing on to rail property.

"There are significant safety risks, including rolling stock which takes a considerable distance to stop and the high voltage overhead powerlines," the spokesman said.

Vandalising trains with graffiti carries a maximum penalty of 14 years' imprisonment.

Early in September, an Oxley man, 18, was charged with 207 graffiti offences and many of those were allegedly on the rail network, the police spokesman said.

[ozbob]

I saw this EMU pass through Oxley early Monday morning.

The 5.38 Shorncliffe service was running 8 minutes late, EMU08 leading was badly paint damaged.  It had been completely repainted. Time this outrage was stopped.

http://backontrack.org/mbs/index.php?topic=833.msg6588#msg6588

[Derwan]

Barbed wire and the occasional security patrol is not enough.  Time to put guard dogs in all stabling yards.  Perhaps if the losers are savagely mauled, they might think twice next time.  (But of course, that would require a brain!)

[O_128]

I think maybe one EMU sould be given to artists for tasteful art and changed every couple of months. The windows could be taped up first and them let them go wild they would have to sign up for it but it might give them an outlet and something more interesting for commutuers to look at.One of the worst stabling yars i have seen is manly where there is barly any security.

[mufreight]

Thrre or four trained hungry dobermans would do a lot towards solving the problem and there would be no trouble identifying the so called artists, the police could collect them at their lesiure at the hospital after they were stitched up.
Why should we have to pay for these germs, am informed that in southern states when they catch them the courts jail them and make them or their parents if they are underage pay the full cost of the removal of their vandalism, not give them a slap on the wrist and send them on their way to do it again.

[ozbob]

From the Brisbanetimes click here!

Brisbane man faces 85 graffiti charges

Brisbane man faces 85 graffiti charges
Tony Moore
May 29, 2009

A 22-year-old Oxley man faces 85 charges of wilful damage after alleged graffiti attacks on trains, stations and buses around Brisbane.

The man was one of three people arrested by the State Crime Operations Command Graffiti Task Force in the past week on drugs, firearms and graffiti offences.

Police have raided two homes in Oxley and Rosalie.

At Oxley, where the 22-year-old man was arrested, police allegedly found drugs, drug utensils and a large amount of graffiti equipment.

The man faces 85 charges of wilful damage and changes of possessing graffiti tools, possession of a dangerous drug and possession of drug utensils.

Police will allege that almost all of the graffiti attacks were on trains, stations and buses.

At Rosalie, police allegedly found a quantity of drugs and charged a 20-year-old with possessing a dangerous drug and an unlicensed firearm.

A third person - also a 20 year old man - was arrested on Tuesday for the alleged graffiti on a train at Doomben train station.

The accused trio were all given notices to appear in court.