A 47-year-old man has admitted stealing one of Banksy’s most iconic works of art from a London gallery.
Larry Fraser, from Beckton, east London, pleaded guilty to stealing Banksy’s Girl with Balloon from the Grove Gallery, Fitzrovia, on September 8.
Fraser appeared in the dock at Kingston Crown Court alongside his co-defendant James Love, 54, who pleaded not guilty to the same charge of burglary.
The Banksy artwork, which has an estimated value of up to £250,000, was stolen during a 37-second heist at about 11pm.
Fraser and Love, a builder from North Stifford, Essex, were charged three days after the burglary on September 11.
Larry Fraser, 47, from Beckton, east London, has pleaded guilty to stealing Banksy’s iconic Girl with Balloon from the Grove Gallery, Fitzrovia, on September 8
Larry Fraser admitted a charge of burglary at Kingston Crown Court today (Wednesday)
CCTV footage from inside Grove Gallery, London, shows damage to the front door following the audacious break-in
Wearing a black coat, white shirt, grey trousers and tie, Fraser pleaded guilty and will remain on bail.
Father-of-three Love, who was sat in the dock wearing a blue shirt and spotted tie, confirmed his name and date of birth, and pleaded not guilty.
Judge Anne Brown set a five-day hearing at the same court for September 15 next year. Fraser, represented by defence lawyer Jeffrey Israel, will be sentenced after the trial, the court heard.
A bail variation application put forward by Love’s defence barrister, Orla Daly, was rejected by the judge.
The gallery had been hosting a Banksy exhibition, titled ‘Breakout: Banksy’s London Rebellion’, when the burglary took place.
Girl with Balloon appeared alongside other notable Banksy pieces including Pulp Fiction and Monkey Queen.
CCTV showed the Grove Gallery’s glass entrance doors being smashed in during the break-in.
The Met Police confirmed Banksy’s Girl with Balloon was the only item stolen and it was recovered ahead of being returned to the gallery.
The manager of the gallery, Lindor Mehmetaj, told The Sun after the heist that the artwork could have skyrocketed in value.
He said: ‘It could be half a million. It could be a million if you show it to the right buyer. It’s all subjective.
‘I’ve got grey hair now. It’s the most horrific experience of my life.
‘We have never been robbed before.’
Officers inspect the damaged door outside Grove Gallery in Fitzrovia, London following the burglary last month
Images of a girl reaching up for a red heart-shaped balloon were stencilled across London by the elusive street artist from 2002.
It was first seen in Waterloo’s South Bank that year next to the quotation: ‘There is always hope.’
Limited-edition prints then came on sale, as well as hand-sprayed versions.
In 2018, Girl With Balloon famously self-destructed in a Sotheby’s London saleroom when it descended into a shredder after fetching more than £1million.
Girl with Balloon, seen in a wrapping marked ‘police evidence’, was recovered by detectives
That piece was then renamed Love Is In The Bin, which in 2021 sold for £18.6 million, a record for Banksy’s work.
The latest theft follows a number of Banksy paintings being stolen or vandalised over the last few months.
One mural – which depicts two elephants poking their head out of white windows – popped up in Chelsea in London in August, but was vandalised with grey stripes after a week.
Banksy’s rhino mural in Charlton was also destroyed with spray paint in August, while the artist’s lone wolf on a satellite dish in Peckham mysteriously disappeared.
Footage emerged showing the shocking moment the artwork was dismantled before being carried away.
A group of hooded men wearing facemasks and gloves were spotted scaling the building, removing the satellite dish, and walking off.
A spokesperson for Banksy previously said the artist was neither connected to nor endorsed the theft of the wolf artwork and that they had ‘no knowledge as to the dish’s current whereabouts’.
While Banksy has never revealed his identity, The Mail on Sunday previously revealed him to be middle-class artist Robin Gunningham.
Another of Banksy’s works, a picture of a lone wolf on a satellite dish in Peckham, mysteriously disappeared in August with footage showing hooded men dismantle and removing the dish
His reputation is founded on the popularity of his trademark stencil-style art in public spaces – including on walls in London, Brighton, Bristol and even on the West Bank barrier separating Israelis and Palestinians.
Banksy has dozens of celebrity collectors including Brad Pitt, Angelina Jolie and Christina Aguilera, and his work repeatedly sells for hundreds of thousands of pounds.
He is also known for his headline-making stunts, such as leaving an inflatable doll dressed as a Guantanamo prisoner in Disneyland, California, and hanging a version of the Mona Lisa – but with a smiley face – in the Louvre, Paris.
