A 19-year-old graffiti vandal has been jailed for his part in a £100,000 conspiracy to commit criminal damage on the railways.

Daniel Rothero of Kingsway, Caversham, pleaded guilty to the conspiracy which was linked to damage caused to stations and to South West trains near stations including Redhill, between January 2006 and December 2007.

He was sentenced to nine months jail for his crimes.

Sentencing him, the judge at Reading Crown Court said a jail term would act as a deterrent to others who were minded to commit criminal damage on the railways.

The conspiracy was also linked to damage caused to South West trains and stations near Reading, Basingstoke, Farnham, Guildford, Weymouth, Woking, Amersham, Aylesbury and Clapham Junction.

British Transport Police London South Graffiti Unit DS Pete Thrush said Rothero was caught after officers from Thames Valley Police stopped his car near Twyford railway station at on December 12, 2007.

"Police carried out searches and located spray cans, hi-visibility jackets and other graffiti paraphernalia,” he said.

"Following further investigations police conducted a house search and located a laptop with thousands of photos of graffiti damage."

DS Thrush said through forensic analysis police were able to link Rothero to the tag GNAT and a graffiti crew called the Cheeky Boys, as well as link his fingerprints to crime scenes at Baskingstoke and Amersham.

DS Thrush said Rothero was a persistent vandal who caused widespread disruption to the railways through his tagging escapades.

"Over a two-year period, he caused substantial damage to railway property and numerous trains were delayed or cancelled as carriages were kept in depots waiting to be cleaned from the damage he caused,” he said.

"The sentence today will hopefully serve as a warning to others that those who engage in defacing and damaging railway property can expect to be pursued by British Transport Police and brought before the courts for their crimes."