Man who stole Banksy print to pay off drug debt sentenced to 13 months in prison | London

A man who stole a Banksy painting from an art gallery to pay off his drug debts has been jailed for 13 months.

Larry Fraser (49 years old) stole the limited edition Girl With Balloon series designed by the street artist after breaking into the Grove Gallery in Fitzrovia, central London, last September.

Sentencing him on Friday, Judge Brown said: “This is brazen and serious non-domestic burglary.”

Kingston Crown Court heard that Fraser, who pleaded guilty to one count of burglary, may be eligible for immediate release due to time served under electronic curfew.

The artwork was part of an exhibition displaying a £1.5 million collection of 13 Banksy pieces at the gallery, and was quickly recovered by officers from the Metropolitan Police.

Philip Stott, prosecuting, told the court that the defendant, from Picton, east London, was seen on CCTV waiting outside the gallery for about 10 minutes on September 8 last year, before repeatedly smashing the glass door with a heavy, blunt object.

He said that when Fraser was able to reach the building, at about 11 p.m., he went straight to the artwork, which was a signed and numbered print.

Stott said: “The defendant was taken to a location in London Docklands and the artwork was hidden inside a building there.

“It was later recovered shortly after, on September 12, after information was passed to police by a third party.”

He added that the value of the copy that was returned without damage amounted to about 270 thousand pounds sterling.

The second man, James Love, 54, was acquitted of stealing the publication after a trial, where he was accused of being the getaway driver in the robbery.

The court heard Fraser entered a plea in which he said he owed money to others due to a historical drug debt he was struggling to settle and agreed to commit the crime “under a degree of pressure and fear”.

He said that he did not know the purpose of the robbery until the day the crime occurred, and he did not know its value.

“Although you did not know the exact value of the print, you clearly understood that it was of great value,” Brown said. “While I’m sure there was a high degree of planning, this was not your plan,” she added.

Brown said the offense was “simply too serious” to receive a suspended sentence.

The court heard that Fraser had 18 previous convictions, but the last was in 2002, when he was jailed for theft and unlawful wounding, and had been “out of trouble” since his release from prison in 2008.

Geoffrey Israel, mitigating, said Fraser, who lived with his mother as her main carer, had managed to “break the cycle of drug addiction” after his last prison sentence.

He said it would “take a bold advocate” to suggest that the value of the publication had increased because of what had happened to it, but added: “That may well be the case.”

DCI Scott Mather, of the Met’s Flying Squad, said: “Banksy’s ‘Girl with Balloon’ painting is known around the world – and we responded immediately to not only bring Fraser to justice but also to reunite the artwork with the exhibition.

“The speed with which this happened is testament to the tireless work of the Flying Squad officers – in all, it only took four days for normalcy to be restored.”

Lindor Mehmitage, director of the Grove Gallery, thanked police for recovering the work. “I was completely shocked, but in a very positive way, when the aviation team showed me the actual artwork,” he said.

“It is very difficult to put into words the burden that is off your shoulders. The way they handled it from the moment they arrived on the scene: practical, logical, very coherent and ultimately professional.

“But also getting the artwork back after it was stolen from us is great.”