A man from East London has been sentenced to prison after confessing to stealing a Banksy print valued at approximately £270,000 from a Central London gallery. Larry Fraser, 48, carried out the burglary in a bid to pay off a historic drug debt.
The Fitzrovia Gallery Burglary
On September 8 last year, Larry Fraser targeted the Grove Gallery in Fitzrovia. The court heard that Fraser was captured on CCTV waiting outside the gallery for about ten minutes before he used a heavy blunt object to repeatedly smash the glass door. The break-in occurred around 11pm.
Once inside, Fraser went directly to the artwork, a signed and numbered print from Banksy's iconic Girl With Balloon series. The print was part of a larger exhibition featuring a £1.5 million collection of 13 Banksy pieces. Philip Stott, prosecuting, stated that after the theft, the defendant was taken to a location in London Docklands where the artwork was hidden.
Investigation and Sentencing
The stolen Banksy print was swiftly recovered by the Metropolitan Police's Flying Squad on September 12, just days after the burglary, following a tip-off from a third party. Fortunately, the artwork was returned without any damage.
At Kingston Crown Court, Fraser pleaded guilty to one count of burglary. Sentencing him to a 13-month prison sentence, Judge Anne Brown described the incident as a "brazen and serious non-domestic burglary." She acknowledged that while Fraser may not have known the precise value of the print, he clearly understood it was very valuable. The judge also noted that while there was a high degree of planning, it was not Fraser's own plan.
A Life of Crime and a Claimed Turnaround
The court was told that Fraser, who lives in Beckton, East London, had put forward a basis of plea. He claimed he committed the offence "under a degree of pressure and fear" because he was struggling to settle a historic drug debt. He stated he did not know the target of the burglary until the day of the offence.
Fraser has 18 previous convictions, with the most recent being in 2002 for robbery and unlawful wounding, for which he was jailed. However, the court heard he had been "out of trouble" since his release from prison in 2008. His defence lawyer, Jeffrey Israel, said Fraser had managed to break his cycle of drug addiction after his last prison sentence and was living with his mother as her principal carer.
In a separate trial, a second man, 54-year-old James Love, was cleared of involvement in the theft after being accused of acting as the getaway driver.
Due to time already spent on an electronic curfew, the court heard that Fraser may be eligible for immediate release. Judge Brown concluded that the offence was simply too serious for a suspended sentence.
