A 55-year-old builder has denied burglary after being accused of helping steal a limited-edition Banksy print worth more than £250,000 from a private London gallery, jurors at Kingston Crown Court heard on Monday.
The prosecution says James Love acted as the getaway driver when the signed and numbered Girl with Balloon print was taken from the Grove Gallery in Fitzrovia on the night of September 8, 2024, a day after the finale of a two-week exhibition titled Breakout: Banksy's London Rebellion. His co-defendant, Larry Fraser, 48, pleaded guilty to one count of burglary at the same court in October.
Prosecutor Philip Stott told the jury the heist lasted 37 seconds and was captured on footage showing a hooded man smash the gallery's glass front door, step inside and remove the print. Stott said Fraser went straight to the Girl with Balloon, removed it from the wall and ran from the scene before getting into a waiting vehicle.
Stott told jurors that mobile phone and CCTV evidence placed Love in central London on the day of the theft and that he had driven a Renault Trafic van to the area near the gallery. The court heard Love called Fraser several times throughout the day and that by 22:55 Love placed a 37-second call to Fraser; the gallery door was smashed at 22:58:36, the prosecutor said.
The court heard that Love was seen on CCTV standing in Scala Street with a phone at about 23:01, roughly 15 minutes after the theft, and that Fraser later approached that location on foot. A resident and night watchman at 21 Scala Street, identified in court as Sukhinder Singh, told jurors he noticed a large framed painting by an interior doorway at about 10:45 p.m. and that two men — whom the prosecution said were Love and Fraser — pushed past him, collected the painting and left.
Stott described how the pair appeared to temporarily place the print on the street before returning to the parked van, where Love drove to another address and, by 23:45, removed the artwork from the back of the van and took it inside. He told jurors that once the Banksy was seized it was quickly moved to a third location away from either man's home.
The prosecutor said the print's value was driven by its numbered signature and certificate of authenticity and that it alone was worth "over a quarter of a million pounds." He also told the jury that Love kept multiple pieces of art featuring love hearts at his home and argued that the theft was motivated by an intent to acquire the heart-themed work for his private collection.
Stott pointed to financial records he said showed a disparity in the men's circumstances, describing Love as a "relatively successful builder" and Fraser as financially impoverished. The court heard that Love had made about 20 small payments, typically around £20, to Fraser in the prior year, and that Love transferred £200 to Fraser on the day of the alleged offence.
Fraser, who admitted the burglary last October, is due to give evidence at the trial. Love, of North Stifford, Grays, Essex, denies one count of burglary. The defence has not yet made its case in full and has sought to challenge aspects of the prosecution's account, including the significance of the timings and movements recorded on CCTV and mobile phone mast data.
The Grove Gallery exhibition displayed 13 works attributed to Banksy. The Girl with Balloon print, a rendition of the artist's well-known motif of a child reaching for a red, heart-shaped balloon, was hung near the gallery entrance on the night of the theft.
The trial is ongoing. Courts officials and the prosecution declined further comment beyond what was said in open court.