A STUDENT "obsessed" with graffiti has been ordered to pay £2,500 in compensation for a campaign of vandalism against railway carriages.

Joshua Dent, aged 22, targeted trains at the Laira Depot when he was living just a few hundred yards away on Cranbourne Avenue in 2006 and 2007.

At Plymouth Crown Court yesterday, Paul Cook, for the prosecution, said Dent was part of a notorious graffiti gang called the NKS.

He said that when police raided Dent's home in June 2007 they found 30 cans of spray paint, several marker pens, and books of graffiti sketches. His i-pod, mobile phone, computer and camera all contained images of graffiti.

"They showed an obsession with graffiti and links to the NKS crew," Mr Cook said.

He said the cost of repairing each carriage ran into thousands of pounds and caused inconvenience to the public as they had to be taken out of service.

The court case was subject to long delays but Dent eventually pleaded guilty to six counts of damaging property, and two counts of breaching an Anti Social Behaviour Order.

The court heard the ASBO had been made against him following a conviction, again for spraying railway carriages, five months before the first of the current offences took place.

The ASBO banned him from Network Rail property and from carrying materials associated with graffiti.

Ali Rafati, for the defence, said Dent was only 19 at the time of the offences and had since turned his life around, studying graphic design at college and going on to university.

He described Dent, who now lives in Bedminster, Bristol, as a talented artist and said he had been commissioned to produce artwork legally since giving up graffiti. He said he had also worked for free for a local carnival committee and had volunteered at a special school.

"He makes good money working for major corporations, ironically painting the side of vehicles," Mr Rafati said.

Judge Miranda Robertshaw told Dent: "You went out night after night with spray cans making graffiti on public places and you must know that there comes a time when it will no longer be tolerated."

She sentenced Dent to 12 months imprisonment, suspended for two years, and ordered him to pay network rail £2,500 in compensation, observe a curfew for a year, and carry out 300 hours unpaid work.

She recommended that he spend that time cleaning up graffiti.