Men who travelled to UK to graffiti trains sentenced – London

Four men who are believed to have travelled to the UK from Spain to graffiti London Underground trains have been sentenced, following a British Transport Police (BTP) investigation.

Asier Dorado-Alosete, 21, (17/11/2004), Javier Martinez-Lopez, 30, (9/7/1996), Juan Palomino Andres-Cabanas, 22, (16/9/2003), and Galo Adrian Romero-Valle, 21 (6/11/2004), all from Spain, appeared at Higbury Magistrates' Court on Saturday 11 July charged with Criminal Damage, Having Articles with Intent to Cause Damage, and Trespass on the Railway.

All four men were handed five-year Criminal Behaviour Orders and fined £187, while Romero-Valle and Andres-Cabanas were additionally ordered to pay £972 in compensation to Transport for London (TfL).

Martinez-Lopez and Romero-Valle were additionally sentenced to 12 months’ imprisonment, suspended for 24 months, while Dorado-Alosete and Andres-Cabanas were sentenced to 10 months, suspended for 12 months.

The court heard how in the early hours of Wednesday 8 July 2026, the four men trespassed across live railway lines in High Barnet.

Immediately upon arrival, the four men began to spray large graffiti murals across the side of a train. The group were quickly spotted by staff observing CCTV footage who contacted BTP.

A search of the area was launched, and officers found and detained Romero-Valle and Andres-Cabanas nearby after they had fled the scene. Unable to explain why they were there, they were arrested and their phones seized for evidence.

Nearby, response officers found several bags containing 44 aerosol spray cans hidden in the bushes while the two other men, Dorado-Alosete and Martinez-Lopez, remained hidden.

The men arrested admitted what they had done and were charged with Criminal Damage, Trespass, and Having Articles to Cause Damage, and appeared at North London Magistrates' Court the following day.

While both men were in court, further evidence was downloaded from their phones which revealed the group had also been involved in a separate incident of criminal damage to a train in Amersham that same night.

Downloaded mobile data from the phones also alerted police to the timing of Martinez-Lopez and Dorado-Alosete’s flights out of the country on 9 July. BTP officers attended Stanstead Airport and arrested the pair as they waited to board their flight home.

Analysed data also revealed that Romero-Valle had a child sex abuse image on his phone. He was additionally charged with Making an Indecent Image of a Child in Category A and later pleaded guilty.

BTP Sergeant Phil Osafo said: "This was an amazing effort by so many people at BTP to quickly attend the location and arrest those involved, and to later arrest the other two men before they could fly home.

“While these offences may seem relatively low-level, there is high cost involved to train operating companies who have to carry out repairs costing thousands of pounds. It also causes disruption across the rail network as trains are taken out of service to be cleaned.

"The conduct of these men was also incredibly ill-thought out as stepping on the tracks is extremely dangerous. The railway is an unforgiving environment to trespass on and our officers as first responders have sadly seen the horrific consequences of doing so.

"Anyone who witnesses anyone committing criminal damage on the railway network to get in touch with BTP by texting 61016 so we can robustly deal with offenders.”