A vandal who daubed a restaurant toilet with a notorious graffiti tag was caught after using his bank card to subsequently purchase his pint.

Alican Jennings, 27, was fined £705 this week for causing criminal damage to the inside and outside of Shambles restaurant in Teddington on March 18 using a white pen and a sharp object.

He was arrested on April 27 and initially denied the offence but pleaded guilty to one charge of criminal damage on Wednesday, August 24 at Wimbledon Magistrates Court.

PC Dean Smith, who led the investigation, said the word “Lager” had been sprayed and etched on property across London for more than 10 years but it had never been possible to identify who was responsible.

PC Smith said: “I had previously been asked on a number of occasions by residents of Twickenham if the person responsible for the “Lager” graffiti had ever been caught.

“The fact Mr Jennings has been put before the courts and pleaded guilty to the offence and therefore admitted responsibility for the graffiti at The Shambles restaurant in Teddington will answer one question that has been asked for many years.”

The “Lager” tag most recently appeared alongside railway tracks in Kew, and a Network Rail spokesman said it would be cleaned off by September 4.

Jennings has not been charged with this offence.