Banksy worth £270,000 stolen from gallery in 36 second raid, court told
A court in London has heard that a Banksy print, worth £270,000, was stolen from a gallery in just 36 seconds.
The incident occurred on September 8th, 2024, at the Grove Gallery in Fitzrovia at around 22:58. Larry Fraser pleaded guilty to the burglary last October. However, James Love is currently facing a trial at Kingston Crown Court over his alleged involvement in the theft.
Love has denied a single charge of non-residential burglary. He has been accused of acting as Fraser’s getaway driver for the robbery.
The artwork was a limited-edition signed print of Banksy’s famous Girl with Balloon work, which was on show in Fitzrovia as part of a two-week exhibition.
According to the gallery owner, James Ryan, CCTV footage shows that only 36 seconds separate a masked man, Fraser, breaking into the property and leaving with the stolen goods. Ryan told the court on September 16th, “It was owned by a private collector and is valued at £270,000.”
Per The Times, on September 15th, prosecutor Philip Stott said: “James Love is accused of committing that burglary with Mr Larry Fraser. The prosecution say Mr Fraser was assisted and/or encouraged in that effort by Mr Love, who dishonestly intended that the legitimate owner should be permanently deprived of it.”
The prosecutor continued, “Mr Love drove Mr Fraser to the scene of the crime, and drove Mr Fraser and the painting away from the scene of the crime. In that sense, he was, in part, the getaway driver, though that does not appear to have been all of his role.”
It was also claimed that Love made a series of bank payments typically worth £20 to Fraser over the 12 months leading up to the robbery, and had also paid him £200 on September 8th, 2024.
The court heard that Love’s Renault Trafic came “within three feet” of the gallery on the morning of the robbery. Stott then claimed Love made a number of calls to Fraser during the same day, and said his phone was connected to a mast in the W1 postcode, the same as the gallery, at the time of the theft.
The prosecutor also alleged that Love had an affinity for artworks related to hearts due to his surname. When officers went to his house, they found a “relatively large number of pictures, about four, featuring love hearts”.
Stott said, “Given that it was Mr Love who had multiple pieces of art based on love hearts already on his walls, it was likely stolen with a view to it eventually — when the heat had died down — ending up in the same place.”
The trial continues.
