James Love allegedly stored the painting in East London after it was stolen
A builder accused of stealing a £270,000 Girl with Balloon Banksy print wanted to add the work to his existing collection of artwork featuring love hearts, a court has heard.
James Love, 54, who hid the work after another man had smashed through the door of a gallery, owned a large number of love heart-based pictures and wanted the Banksy “on his walls”, jurors were told.
The limited edition print, part of an exhibition showcasing a £1.5 million collection of 13 different Banksy pieces at the Grove Gallery in Central London, was taken in September last year, but quickly recovered by officers from the Metropolitan Police’s Flying Squad.
The court heard Love was just “a few feet” from the print the morning before the theft while making a delivery in his van.
Prosecutors say he drove another man to the Fitzrovia-based gallery who stole the valuable Banksy at 11pm the same day, before stashing it in the hallway of a nearby property.
The duo turned up at the property a short time later, barging past a night watchman to take the print away, jurors were told.
The work was hidden in an East London property until Love told police where to find it after his arrest, his trial heard.
On Monday, jurors at Kingston Crown Court were told the theft began when another man, Larry Fraser, smashed in the glass front door of the gallery, stepped inside and stole the painting which was hanging next to the entrance.
Fraser, 48, has already pleaded guilty to burglary, the court heard.
Opening the case, prosecutor Philip Stott said: “Our story starts on September 8 2024 at around 9am.
“Mr Love, driving a Renault Trafic van associated with him, pulled up in New Cavendish Street, right outside the gallery.”
“We know that on the morning of the burglary Mr Love was within a few feet of the Banksy in question.”
Love and Fraser spoke several times on the phone between 12.51pm and 3.44pm, Mr Stott said, adding that Love was in the general vicinity of the gallery throughout.
Mr Stott said Love is a “relatively successful builder” whereas Fraser is “impoverished” and only had £1.75 in his bank account the day before the theft.
Love had paid Fraser small amounts, normally £20, about 20 times in the previous year, but transferred £200 on the day of the offence, jurors heard.
On the evening the Banksy was taken, at 9.14pm, Love drove away from his Essex home in his van, the court was told.
By 10.44pm, the mobile phones of both men were being used in the vicinity of the gallery, the prosecutor said.
Fraser is said to have called Love just minutes after smashing the gallery doors and taking the painting.
After leaving the gallery, Fraser took the Banksy into a nearby property where he left the artwork and changed his top, the trial heard.
Soon after, the night watchman at the building was “startled” to find a “large painting” by an interior doorway and had “no idea how it had got there because it hadn’t been there when he walked past the same spot earlier that evening”, Mr Stott said.
“Suddenly, he saw a white plastic object coming through the lock of the front door and opened it to see what was going on,” the prosecutor said.
“Two men, one white and one black, barged in – clearly Mr Love and Mr Fraser.”
The duo pushed past the night watchman, went to the painting, picked it up and left, Mr Stott said.
The two men walked away with the Banksy, hiding it a second time, before retrieving it and putting it in the back of Love’s van, jurors heard.
They drove to a block of flats in the Isle of Dogs where Love unloaded the Banksy, the court was told.
Love was arrested at his home on September 10.
Mr Stott said there was a “relatively large number of pictures, about four, featuring love hearts” on the walls of his home.
“This Banksy is consistent with those other four,” he added.
“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.”
While at magistrates’ court for his first appearance, he told investigating officers where they could find the Banksy, producing a hand-drawn plan, jurors heard.
Police went to the Isle of Dogs address and found the artwork inside a ground floor cupboard under a dust sheet, the trial heard.
The print in question was brought into court by a police officer who showed it to jurors who leant in for a closer look as it went past.
“Given that it’s worth £270,000 at least, we won’t exhibit it, we will return it at the end of the day,” Mr Stott said.
Love, of North Stifford, denies burglary, and the trial continues.
Earlier this month, a new Banksy work was removed from the wall of a court building in London.
The mural appeared on an external wall of the Queen’s Building, in the Royal Courts of Justice complex and depicted a protester lying on the ground holding a blood-spattered placard, while a judge, in a wig and gown, looms over him, wielding a gavel.
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