Man caused €26,000 worth of damage to Irish Rail
Eimear Dodd
Irish Rail spent over €26,000 to repair damage caused by a man who graffitied the interiors of rail carriages and a rail underpass, Dublin Circuit Criminal Court has heard.
Rokas Kalytis (24) pleaded guilty to counts of criminal damage on dates between January 2020 and May 2022.
He was sentenced on Monday and ordered to carry out 240 hours community service in lieu of a two year prison term.
Judge Elva Duffy said that should Kalytis come to further garda attention or not carry out the community service work, he will serve those two years in prison.
Dublin Circuit Criminal Court previously heard that CCTV footage recorded Kalytis graffitiing the internal panels in train carriages using permanent marker.
Following one incident in January 2020, Irish Rail spent €10,800 repairing these panels. A further €11,500 had to be spent the following October repairing graffitied panels in another rail carriage.
€3,500 was spent on repairs in the wake of another incident of vandalism of a rail carriage by Kalytis in January 2022.
He was also seen on CCTV graffitiing an underpass at Connolly Station using permanent markers, with €500 spent on repairs after this.
Kalytis was identified from CCTV by Irish Rail staff. His home was searched with clothing, permanent markers and a sample of writing seized.
He then moved to the Netherlands but returned in August 2023, meeting gardaí voluntarily for interview in March 2024 for interview.
Kalytis, with addresses in Castlemartin Close, Bettystown, Co Meath and Mountjoy Square made full admissions, telling gardaí it was a way of expressing himself.
He has nine previous convictions, including for criminal damage.
Garda Karl Bolger agreed with defence counsel that Kalytis was co-operative, apologetic and entered an early guilty plea.
A statement from Irish Rail was provided to the court.
Kalytis's background was outlined to the court. He has a difficult family background and was in foster care between the ages of 16 and 18, before experiencing homelessness.
A friend offered him accommodation in Co Meath, but he was asked to leave after the search warrant was executed.
Defence counsel previously told the court that one of Kalytis's previous conviction is for a similar summary offence, for which he received a community service order. However, Kalytis left the jurisdiction without completing community service and has contacted the Probation Service to make arrangements to do this.
The court heard on Monday that this community service order has since been struck out.
Counsel said the probation report was positive in parts, but noted that his client is still using cannabis.
Kalytis was working full-time, and has since left and obtained his construction work safe pass. Counsel said his client has made changes in his life, has developed greater maturity and a forensic psychological report puts him at low risk of re-offending.
