A London judge decided to impose the "least possible sentence" on three graffiti artists who carried out an "industrial scale" campaign of tagging train cars, The Telegraph reports.
Keiron Cummings, 21, Alex Rowe, 22, and Billy McColl, 17, called themselves "SMT" (i.e. System Tumours) as they caused more than $240,000 in damages by vandalizing trains at night.
Several of their works were posted on Tumblr and other social media sites.
Judge Henry Blacksell said he understood public frustration at the damage caused, but he didn't want to jail them after all three pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit criminal damage.
"I will pass the least possible sentence," Blacksell said. "I don't endorse it but I understand the adrenaline rush and the feeling it gives them ... I will by as lenient as I can be. They've got talent and some of Mr Rowe's portfolio you would be proud of."
Here are some of their works:
The least possible sentence still included jail time: Cummings was sentenced two years in prison and Rowe was sentenced to nine months, while McColl was sentences to a six-month youth detention training order.
Here's is a video featuring their exploits:
System Tumours 2012 Trailer from ben sherman on Vimeo.
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