A serial graffiti vandal who tagged a historic Kent landmark and a statue of an English king has been caught.

William King, has been made to pay more than £1,500 in costs and fines after magistrates heard he illegally spray-painted five sites across Canterbury.

The 20-year-old was captured on CCTV in April defacing the Grade I-listed Fyndon’s Gate - which forms part of St Augustine’s Abbey - with his tag ‘Mr Slime’.

Magistrates heard yesterday (November 19) how the same man is also believed to have graffitied the city’s magistrates’ court building and the King Ethelbert statue in Lady Wootton’s Green.

Environmental crime and graffiti officers traced King, of Weyburn Drive, Ramsgate, to an address in Canterbury.

He admitted he was responsible for the tags in breach of Canterbury City Council’s public spaces protection order.

So far this year, the local authority’s team has removed more than 5,703 pieces of graffiti.

Magistrates fined King £120 for each of the five instances of graffiti and ordered him to pay a victim surcharge of £240 and prosecution costs of £200 and £517.90 in compensation for cleaning costs.

Cllr Connie Nolan, the council’s cabinet member for community engagement, safety and enforcement, said: “Tagging is simply vandalism by another name and affects everyone’s quality of life by making a beautiful city like Canterbury look horrible and grimy.

“I am pleased our investigation tracked down the culprit and they have been punished.

“Let that be a lesson to other taggers out there – we will find you and we will prosecute you.”