GRAFFITI gang members who caused an estimated £100,000 of damage across Basingstoke in a two-year vandalism spree have been brought to justice.

As part of their punishment, the quartet of youths - who were slammed by the judge for casting a blight over Basingstoke - now face having to clean off graffiti from local sites.

Thomas Braybrook, 18, of Old Basing, Lee Baker, 19, of Bounty Road, Basingstoke, Jamie Smyth, 19, of Higher Meade, Lychpit, and Charles Langridge, 22, of Cairngorm Close, Basingstoke, all pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit criminal damage at earlier court hearings.

Winchester Crown Court heard the four were identified as being involved in the wave of vandalism after some of them appeared on a national television programme and boasted about their involvement in particular acts of graffiti writing.

Their graffiti appeared between January 2000 and April 2002 across Basingstoke town centre on bridges, telephone boxes, bus shelters, buildings and a bus used by local charity Basingstoke Community Transport.

They caused so much damage that Basingstoke and Deane Borough Council was forced to buy a £20,000 machine to clean the graffiti from walls around the town.

Sentencing the four youths, Judge Patrick Hooton told them: "You have literally cast a blight over Basingstoke with your behaviour.

"When this case started, I had it in mind to sentence all of you to prison for 12 months. That is an entirely appropriate sentence.

"You may have thought you were carrying out some sort of prank - that it was great fun - but what you did was cause an enormous amount of damage and a tremendous amount of trouble for the council."

Frank Abbott, defending Langridge and Smyth, referred to his clients as stupid, nave and misdirected.

"They are young men with talents that have been mistakenly, and very navely, put to the wrong use," he said. "They are petrified about the fact that they stand here charged with conspiracy."

Gordon Smyth, Jamie Smyth's father, told the court he felt disappointment, shock, anger and shame at what his son had done.

"We did not bring him up to behave in this way," he said. "I am a ratepayer in Basingstoke and I am paying for his crime."

Bruce Maddick, defending Braybrook, also called his client nave and stupid.

He said: "These are young men who didn't consider the consequences of their actions at the time."

Mr Maddick added: "Making the punishment fit the crime would be the best way of demonstrating to these defendants, and to ratepayers, just what the consequences are.

"If, for 240 hours, they have to scrub these walls - and be seen doing that - it will bring it home to them in a way that no other punishment could."

Before passing sentence, Judge Hooton heard about the efforts all four youths were making in their education. He told the four that it was this, and what he heard from one of their mothers and one of their fathers about the effect the case had had on the quartet, that had saved them from a custodial sentence.

"It seems to me you have all had a serious shock to the system with these proceedings," said the judge, before sentencing each of the four to a community punishment order for 240 hours. He also ordered each of them to pay Basingstoke council £5,000 in compensation within 12 months.

He told them that part of the sentence will involve removing graffiti.

"You are all extremely lucky," said the judge, adding: "You had better leave the dock before I change my mind."