A MAN has avoided an immediate jail term after he went on a graffiti spree in Otley.

Robert O'Brien, 29, from York, appeared at Leeds Magistrates Court on Friday, February 8, where he was convicted of several counts of causing criminal damage over the 2018 Christmas period. 

He was given an eight week prison sentence, suspended for a year, and ordered to do 120 hours of unpaid work.

The vandal was also made to pay a surcharge to fund victim services.

Inspector Andy Loftus, who heads neighbourhood policing for north-west Leeds, said: “O’Brien was responsible for graffiti tagging that caused a large amount of criminal damage across a significant area of Otley with repair costs running to thousands of pounds.

"The damage appeared suddenly over a very short period of time and was immediately picked up on by locally-based neighbourhood officers who tracked him down, both on and off duty, and linked him to the offences.

"The court has rightly viewed these offences so seriously that he has been given a suspended prison sentence, a supervision order and a significant period of unpaid work.

"We hope the penalty he has received will act as a warning to others who think they can cause such wanton damage without having to face the consequences.

Inspector Loftus outlined the serious impact graffiti often has on the community.

He added: "Graffiti and tagging may seem like a low level crime to some but it creates a real eyesore in the community, costs money to put right and makes people think the area is suffering from high levels of crime, which isn’t the case.

"We will always take this type of mindless vandalism seriously and do everything we can to identify those responsible and bring them to justice, as we have in this case.

"We would ask anyone who witnesses people causing this type of damage or has any information on those involved to contact us so we can take appropriate action.”