Graffiti gang faces $117k bill for damage
A gang of graffiti vandals who terrorised train passengers, caused major delays and were responsible for over $100,000 worth of damage during a three year rampage on our train network are yet to pay a cent of the clean up bill.
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Brazen graffiti vandals caused more than $100,000 of damage in a wave of sophisticated attacks across Melbourne’s public transport network.
The gang, called Stopping All Stations, terrorised passengers and vandalised trains for more than three years.
The group, thought to be part of a wider network of vandals, broke in to rail yards and ambushed running trains, leaving frightened passengers to watch as they covered carriages in paint.
More than a year after their arrest, seven men have now admitted their role in the group.
Their attacks left a clean-up bill of more than $117,000, which authorities are now demanding they pay back.
The men — Liam Cahill, 22, Adam Cooke, 25, Jordan Davis, 21, Mitchell Dunn, 22, Drew Neyland, 33, Kyle Wight, 24, and Miles Woodhead, 23 — are awaiting sentencing after pleading guilty to a raft of charges in the County Court.
The men would often place debris on tracks to force trains to stop.
On one occasion, they put concrete blocks on the line between Craigieburn and Roxburgh Park. Three male passengers from the stranded train were later needed to move the concrete blocks.
On other occasions, gang members attacked trains in secure rail yards by jumping fences, cutting through fences or using stolen keys to unlock gates. Other members would act as spotters.
The attacks were routinely photographed or filmed and gang members later bragged about their exploits on social media.
The County Court heard the gang often conducted surveillance of areas that were potential targets.
Prosecutors detailed more than 200 attacks between 2015 and 2018.
Gang members used encrypted messaging services to discuss which trains to tag, which direction to run if spotted, where the pick-up was and what the mural would be.
Equipment including bolt cutters, tin snips, ladders, milk crates and aerosol paints were used. Gang members wore gloves and masks to disguise their identities.
Police ultimately planted listening and tracking devices in vehicles of gang members in an attempt to end their wild vandalism spree.
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In March last year, the gang was smashed open after police executed a series of warrants across Melbourne’s north and northwest, seizing 195 data storage devices that contained thousands of images and video recordings of graffiti-related criminal damage.
Officers also found railway detonators, cannabis and stolen goods.
In addition to graffiti incidents, Wight and Cooke also admitted pouring oil across a suburban bike path in order to cause cyclists to crash.