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A SUSPECTED spray-paint menace has appeared in court over a Christmas Day graffiti attack on the Metro.

Workers leave was interrupted when transport bosses called them in to clean up the ugly scrawls daubed on the walls of five stations.

But police have now arrested a man in connection with the graffiti, which caused £7,000 of damage.

Justin John Moore, of Armstrong Road, Benwell, Newcastle, was charged with criminal damage.

The 23-year-old pleaded not guilty at the city’s magistrates court.

Insp Les Pattison from Northumbria Police’s Metro Unit said: “Incidents of graffiti on the Metro system are taken very seriously and are always thoroughly investigated.

“Offenders should be aware that will do everything we can to bring them to justice.”

The graffiti appeared at stations between Jesmond and Gateshead.

Staff were called back from their Christmas leave to work through the night to clean it off.

The worst-hit station was Newcastle’s Haymarket.

A Nexus spokesman said: “The vandalism happened late on Christmas Day when there were no trains in service.

“Staff worked through the night to clean the graffiti from the system.”

One Metro passenger said: “It’s just pointless. I don’t know why people do it. It just means people have to come in during their time off during the festive period to clean it off which isn’t fair. I hope the people who did it are caught.”

Vandals cause hundreds of thousands of pounds of damage to the Metro system every year.

In August, a train had to be halted after wooden pallets and other items were found on the track at Hadrian Road station, in Wallsend.

When the driver got out to remove the items from the track, he realised the train was being sprayed with graffiti. He also saw a camera flash as a man took a photograph of the mess.

It is believed the objects were deliberately placed at the scene.