A man who stole a Banksy painting from a London art gallery to pay off a historic drug debt has been handed a 13-month prison sentence.
Larry Fraser stole a limited edition print of the artist’s Girl With Balloon series, worth £270,000.
Kingston Crown Court heard how the 49-year-old repeatedly smashed the glass door of Grove Gallery in Fitzrovia last September before entering and taking off with the artwork.
Sentencing him today, judge Anne Brown described the burglary as ‘brazen and serious non-domestic burglary.’
Fraser said he owed money because of a historic drug debt, which he was struggling to settle.
He said he agreed to carry out the theft ‘under a degree of pressure and fear’, adding he did not know the target of the burglary until the day of the offence.
He also said he did not know its value.
Judge Brown said: ‘Whilst you did not know the precise value of the print, you obviously understood it to be very valuable.
‘Whilst I am sure there was a high degree of planning, this was not your plan.’
The offence was ‘simply too serious’ for a suspended sentence, judge Brown said.
The court heard Fraser, who pleaded guilty to one count of burglary, spent time on an electronic curfew, which could make him eligible for immediate release.
Latest London news
- ‘Run-down’ London area voted most depressing to get £20,000,000 upgrade
- There’s a capsule missing from the London Eye – here’s why
- Here’s how much more drivers will pay for the London congestion charge next year
To get the latest news from the capital visit Metro’s London news hub.
The artwork was part of an exhibition showcasing a collection of 13 Banksy pieces worth £1.5 million, and officers from the Metropolitan Police’s Flying Squad swiftly recovered the stolen print.
Prosecutor Philip Stott told the court Fraser, from Beckton in east London, had waited outside the gallery for 10 minutes before entering the building at around 11pm, where he headed straight for the signed and numbered print.
Stott said: ‘The defendant was taken to a location in London Docklands and the artwork was secreted inside a building there.
‘It was later recovered shortly after, on September 12, after information was passed to the police by a third party.’
A second man, James Love, 54, was previously accused of working with an accomplice to steal the limited edition print, but was cleared of the burglary following a trial.
Fraser had 18 previous convictions and was jailed for robbery and unlawful wounding in 2002, the court heard and had been ‘out of trouble’ since his release from prison in 2008.
Jeffrey Israel, defending, said Fraser was the principal carer for his mother, whom he lived with, and worked hard to ‘break his cycle of drug addiction’ after his last prison sentence.
He said it ‘would take a bold advocate’ to suggest the value of the print had increased following the theft, but added: ‘That is probably the reality’.
Detective Chief Inspector Scott Mather, from the Met Police’s Flying Squad, said it took ‘just four days for normality to be restored’.
He said: ‘Banksy’s Girl with Balloon is known across the world – and we reacted immediately to not just bring Fraser to justice but also reunite the artwork with the gallery.
‘The speed at which this took place is a testament to the tireless work of the Flying Squad officers.’
Grove Gallery manager, Lindor Mehmetaj, 29, thanked police for recovering the piece of art, describing the Flying Squad officers as being ‘pragmatic, logical, very composed and ultimately professional’.
He said: ‘I was completely, completely shocked, but in a very, very positive way when the Flying Squad showed me the actual artwork.
‘It’s very hard to put into words, the weight that comes off your shoulders.’
He added that receiving the recovered artwork after it was stolen was ‘remarkable.’
Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@metro.co.uk.
For more stories like this, check our news page.