TWO graffiti artist jailed for vandalising railway property are hoping to help educate other prisoners.

Thomas `TJ' Dolan, 20, and friend Thomas Whittaker, 18, have applied to help run art workshops and help prisoners with reading and writing skills.

The request is being considered by bosses at Deerbolt prison in Co Durham.

Dolan, known as Krek, was jailed for 15 months and Whittaker, known as Mers, for 12 months at Manchester Crown Court last month.

Whittaker was due to start his art degree at Liverpool John Moores University this month and Dolan has previously worked with young offenders and children in schools.

An appeal has now been lodged against the sentences and the two are waiting to hear if it will be granted.

The pair have received hundreds of messages of support and more than 1,400 have signed an online petition to try to get them freed. Note skate shop on Tib Street has also sold out of T-shirts with the words `Free Krek Free Mers' in graffiti-style lettering.

Awareness

Hundreds of skateboarders and spray can artists also attended a festival in Manchester to raise awareness of the case.

During the `skate and graff jam' on London Road, under the Mancunian Way, the names of the two men were sprayed in their trademark style and a video of what some think about the sentences is to be posted on the website YouTube.

Phil Heathcote, leading the campaign to free the pair, said: "We're not saying that what they did wasn't wrong or illegal - and in fact they admitted it was in court.

"But with the prisons overcrowded and the M.E.N. recently reporting on 15,000 criminals, including rapists, being let off with a caution, we think these prison sentences are way overboard and should be revoked immediately."

Dolan's mother, Judy, attended the event with other relatives and said: "It's great to know everyone is thinking about them.

"They are finding it difficult in prison. They've asked if they can do art workshops and help other prisoners with their reading and writing. It's a possibility and they are waiting to hear.

"We will continue to highlight the severity of the sentences. No one has said they should not be punished, but the severity of the sentences is ridiculous."

Judy described her heartbreak at having to visit her son in prison.

She added: "When I come away it just hurts and it's getting more difficult for me. When I see how he is, I just want to take him home with me. It's hard to cope with."

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