Banned from bus "top-decks"

A Teenager has been banned from travelling on the top deck of any public transport bus in England and Wales because of his persistent vandalism.

Billy Murrell, aged 17, of Bannockburn Road, Plumstead, became the first youth to be served with an anti-social behaviour order asked for by Transport for London, since it was given the power to apply for Asbos in September last year.

He was tracked down and identified by Bexley police after his tag "raider" and "raidar" began appearing on buses all over the borough. Murrell was caught through Operation BusTag, which targets bus vandals though the use of CCTV. The order was granted by Greenwich magistrates on September 12 and will last for three years.

It also bans Murrell from entering any parts of London Underground or other railway property in England and Wales, not open to the public; carrying any pens, paint, paint stripper or etching equipment in a public place in England and Wales or encouraging anyone else to damage property in England and Wales.

A second 17-year-old, from Bexley, who cannot be named for legal reasons, was given a six-month supervision order and ordered to pay £500 to train company Southeastern, after admitting causing £13,000 worth of damage to trains.