A £270,000 Banksy print was stolen from a central London gallery in just over 30 seconds, a court has heard.
Larry Fraser, 48, has pleaded guilty to burglary, jurors at Kingston Crown Court have heard, but 54-year-old James Love faces trial over the theft.
Fraser smashed the glass front door of the Grove Gallery in Fitzrovia at around 23:00 BST on 8 September 2024, stepped inside and stole a limited edition print belonging to the street artist’s Girl with Balloon series.
A statement from James Ryan, the owner of the gallery, said CCTV footage recorded that 36 seconds passed between a masked man starting to break in and leaving with the print.
Prosecutors allege Mr Love, said to own a large number of love-heart based pictures, drove to the gallery on the morning of the burglary and helped store the print after it was stolen.
The prosecution also alleges Mr Love was in regular contact with Fraser the day of the theft.
Thirteen original Banksy artworks, some of which were signed, were selected to be put on display at the Grove Gallery, the court heard.
Mr Ryan said the artwork was first printed in 2004 and is a limited edition of 150.
This was number 72.
He said: “It was owned by a private collector and is valued at £270,000.”
After leaving the gallery, Fraser took the Banksy into a nearby property where he left the artwork, jurors heard.
Sukhvinder Singh, a night watchman at the property, described his shock at being pushed aside by two men who entered the building late on 8 September.
Assisted by a Punjabi interpreter, Mr Singh told the court that he noticed a painting in a toilet which had not been there earlier that evening, describing it as depicting a “doll” who was “flying something like a kite”.
He said: “After that when I saw the painting there I heard some noise on the other side of the (front) door.
“Somebody was trying to insert a white plastic bit into the door and trying to open the door.”
Mr Singh told jurors he opened the door to find a white man and a black man.
“I was very shocked,” he continued. “They pushed me out of the way and went inside. I tried to ask them in Punjabi, ‘who are you?'”
He said they went “straight” to the bathroom, picked up the painting and left.
“The white male was just saying: ‘Sorry sorry, brother, sorry sorry’ in English,” Mr Singh went on.
“I said ‘why did you come inside, how did you come inside?’
“They came in a rush, they just came in a great hurry, they were there barely for two to three minutes, they picked it up and left.
“The only thing that was said was ‘sorry’.”
Love, of North Stifford, Grays, Essex, denies burglary and the trial continues.
