Man denies being getaway driver for stolen Banksy after helping friend into van

A man accused of helping steal a £270,000 Banksy print has denied being a getaway driver after jurors were shown CCTV of him helping his friend into a van with the artwork.

James Love, 54, of North Stifford, Essex, is on trial for burglary after a limited edition Girl With Balloon print was taken from the Grove Gallery in central London on September 8 last year.

Larry Fraser, 48, admitted smashing the gallery’s glass door and stealing the picture in just over 30 seconds.

Jurors at Kingston Crown Court were shown footage on Wednesday of Love’s van pulling up near the gallery shortly after the break-in.

The video showed Fraser approaching carrying the Banksy before Love helped him into the vehicle.

Love told jurors this was the first time he realised what Fraser had done.

“As he walked in front of me I thought, ‘what the f*** has he got there?’” he said.

“He said, ‘sorry bro, I had to do it, I owe money.’”

When it was suggested in court that he had acted as Fraser’s getaway driver, Love replied: “No.”

“I don’t know, I wasn’t thinking right – all I was thinking about was family, I’m going to get in trouble, cameras, I wasn’t thinking,” he said.

“When we drove off I started shouting, abusing Fraser. He said he needs it, he owes a large drug debt.

“I said, ‘you’ve used me, you’ve f***** me’.”

Love said he was furious but later left the picture at a block of flats in the Isle of Dogs.

“I decided to put the picture there so Fraser couldn’t get his hands on it and hopefully get it back to where it belongs,” he said.

Police eventually found the artwork according to a map and instructions given to them by Love at his first court appearance.

Love, a builder, told jurors he had known Fraser for around 20 years and would occasionally hire him for labouring jobs.

He said Fraser would do “dirty work” for him such as “ripping up carpets and taking up floorboards”.

During cross-examination Philip Stott, prosecuting, said: “You persuaded him to do another kind of job – stealing a Banksy for you.

“A different kind of dirty work.”

The jury was also shown bank records of small sums Love had sent Fraser over time, often around £20.

The largest transfer was £200 on the day of the burglary, which Love insisted was a mistake.

“It should have been £20 and I put an extra zero on it,” he said.

“I was in panic mode, my eyes were bad – I’ve had eye tests since then and now I wear glasses for this very reason.”

Love accepted he had taken the picture out of his van and put it in a locked storage cupboard at a property he managed, covering it with a dust sheet.

He agreed Fraser did not have a key to the cupboard.

Asked why he put it there, Love told the court: “Because Fraser couldn’t have it. He would have took it and it would be gone.”

He later said he transferred money to Fraser so he could “stick it in a taxi” and get rid of the painting.

Mr Stott added: “So you are putting it in a cupboard so he can’t get access to it but simultaneously giving him £20 so he can get rid of it?

“Your story doesn’t make any sense, does it?

“There’s no reason for you to be transferring Mr Fraser £20, or £200, unless it is because you are paying for his part in the burglary and silence thereafter.”

Prosecutors allege Love, said to own a large number of love-heart based pictures, drove to the Fitzrovia-based gallery on the morning of the burglary, was in regular contact with Fraser that day and helped stash the print after it was stolen.

Love told the court he was “not particularly” a fan Banksy and said he knew little about the street artist’s work.

Asked if he burgled the gallery to add a picture “with a heart on it” to his own collection, Love replied: “No.”

Jurors also heard how the burglary had happened around the time of Mr Love’s partner’s 50th birthday.

Mr Stott asked: “What’s your partner’s name?.

“Heart,” Mr Love replied.

“Your name is Love, her name is Heart,” Mr Stott continued.

“You wanted this Banksy for yourself.”

The trial continues.