A GRAFFITI vandal who caused £86,000 of damage by spraying his signature "Osne" tag on buildings and trains in Bristol and London has been jailed for 18 months.

Former economics student G******* M*****, said to be part of the Scum For Life graffiti crew, was found to have scrawled the distinctive daub or mirror image "Enso" on every thing from bus shelters to tube trains between January 2006 and May 2008.

Bristol Crown Court was told the 20-year-old's parents lived in Fulham, London, and after studying art he studied economics at the University of the West of England.

When police found a can of spray paint with his fingerprint on in a train in London, they tracked him down but he denied wrongdoing.

A jury heard, though, that not only did the prosecution have CCTV footage of M***** near the scene of some vandalism in Bristol, they retrieved text messages sent to his mobile phone referring to him as "Osne".

M*****, of Phoenix Court, Bond Street South, Old Market, denied 46 charges of criminal damage.

A jury took an hour to unanimously convict him of all charges.

Judge Carol Hagen told him: "You are aware of the cost of repairing the damage. You have expressed remorse in the pre-sentence report and I give you credit for that."

At M*****'s trial, Paul Cook, prosecuting, said the only issue in the case was whether M***** was responsible for the graffiti.

He told the jury: "Graffiti artists will create a tag, this is their mark. It is unique to them and is often a sequence of letters. It will have no meaning to you and me, but it will have meaning to them and their friends."

Mr Cook said simple graffiti tagging can take place on doorways or phone boxes, but often "graffitists" use spray paint to create larger, more elaborate pieces in sometimes dangerous locations.

Often, Mr Cook said, large graffiti pieces contain "shout outs" to fellow crew members, or other crews.

He told the court: "The graffiti artist will often dedicate work to a family member, friends or girlfriends.

"Graffiti artists' pieces evolve over time, and often they do their tags backwards and modify the style."

Mr Cook said police acquired CCTV film showing M***** in Old Market at 3am – linking him to £600 damage to a ventilation structure owned by Bristol City Council.

He said police also found Marino's fingerprint on a can of spray paint in a vandalised train at Blackfriars Station, London.

The court also heard images of "Osne" tags were found on Marino's computer, and texts sent to him contained the name.

Tabitha Macfarlane, defending, said her client came from a very good home and was well educated, but maintained an appreciation of street art.