Man behind eyesore graffiti which caused damage all over Otley appears in Leeds court

Robert O’Brien, 29, of no fixed abode, appeared at Leeds Magistrates Court on February 8.

He was given an eight week prison sentence, suspended for one year, 120 hours of unpaid work and was made to pay a surcharge to fund victim services.

Inspector Andy Loftus, head of the neighbourhood policing team for north-west Leeds, said: “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.

“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.”