Car Stringh

Derek Allen, 22, who sat silently in the dock during yesterday's court hearing, was full of bravado on leaving court, declaring himself a hero. "You should be publicising me as a hero. We're all heroes," he said of graffiti vandals. "We want to have our say." When asked if he planned to keep vandalising trains, Allen said: "I probably shouldn't say that." Earlier this month, three NSW graffiti vandals walked free from Melbourne Magistrates' Court after admitting to a wave of train vandalism attacks. The trio, who caused thousands of dollars in damage to Melbourne trains, were placed on community-based orders.

Allen, also from Sydney, used bolt cutters to break into the Carrum sidings -- a train holding yard in Melbourne's outer southeast -- where he planned to plaster the exteriors of trains with anti-nuclear slogans. But his scheme was thwarted when two Connex guards spotted him boarding a stationary train carriage about 7am on Saturday.