A man was sentenced to 13 months in prison for stealing a signed engraving from the work “Girl with Balloon”by Banksy, in a flash robbery at a London gallery in 2024.
Larry Fraser, aged 49, was sentenced to 13 months in prison this Friday (14) for stealing the 2004 engraving – valued at £270,000 (around R$1.9 million) – from the Grove Gallery, in the sophisticated Fitzrovia neighborhood, in the British capital, in September last year, according to the London Metropolitan Police.
Police said Fraser pleaded guilty to one count of burglary on non-residential property.
“Officers from the Met’s Flying Squad worked tirelessly to identify the suspect and were able to track him to a location a few streets away, where he was identified as Fraser,” police said in a statement on Friday.
“They even caught him on CCTV footage loading the work into a van before fleeing the scene.”
A Flying Squada specialist unit of the Metropolitan Police tasked with investigating serious organized crime, recovered the work within four days, following Fraser’s arrest and “covert investigations”, according to police.
Art recovery expert Arthur Brand told CNN It was notable that the stolen work was an engraving, because engravings tend to be easier to sell than original works.
“It’s easier to sell a print because there are so many. If you steal a painting, which is unique, it’s very difficult to sell it,” Brand said.
In a video shared online by police, a hooded man can be seen breaking the gallery’s glass door before entering the building and removing the print from the wall.
Gallery manager Lindor Mehmetaj, 29, said he was “completely shocked” by the theft, as he thanked police for their “remarkable” response, in a statement released by the corporation.
Detective Chief Scott Mather, who led the investigation, said Banksy’s “Girl with Balloon” is known “all over the world”.
“We reacted immediately to not only bring Fraser to justice, but also to return the work to the gallery,” Mather said in a statement.
The iconic image created by made headlines in 2018 when the painting self-destructed moments after being sold for $1.4 million
