THE man who sprayed graffiti on York Minster was today ordered to do 50 hours community service.

Mohan Paul was also told by city magistrates to pay the Minster £125 in compensation towards the estimated £500 cost of the damage.

Earlier this month, Paul admitted causing criminal damage by spraying the cathedral with words such as "perverts" and "child abusers" early one morning in August. He also daubed "vanity" on the nearby statue of Constantine the Great.

The court was told he had been abused as a child and Paul later told the Evening Press he was protesting at a Church failure to tackle child abuse by both clergy and congregation.

He said he had written to the Archbishop of York to confess to what he had done.

He had launched his protest after reading of another case of a clergyman being jailed for abusing children. "That was the straw that broke the camel's back."

The case was adjourned for pre-sentence reports until today.

Jackie Knights said today in mitigation that Paul still had a sense of grievance that he had suffered so badly as a child. "He is still suffering 40 years later." She told the magistrates he had sprayed the graffiti through an overwhelming anger and sense of injustice rather than gratuitously doing damage.

But he had not realised how his actions in damaging such an historic building would cause such shock to so many people.

She said he felt a community punishment order would be appropriate. "It is right to repay the community for the damage he has done to the community."

Paul, 44, who now lives off Walmgate, told the Evening Press this afternoon that he felt he had made his point and would certainly not be repeating his actions. "It was a one-off."

Updated: 14:33 Thursday, September 27, 2001