Builder accused of stealing ‘Girl with the Balloon’ Banksy has a partner called ‘Heart’

A builder has denied being the getaway driver for a stolen £270,000 Banksy after CCTV captured him helping a friend into a van with the artwork.

James Love, whose partner’s name is Heart, instead said he stashed the ‘Girl with the Balloon’ piece in a block of flats because he wanted to return it to the gallery.

The 54-year-old also claimed he meant to transfer £20 to his friend who stole the limited edition piece, but accidentally added another zero onto the sum.

Larry Fraser, 48, admitted smashing the glass doors of the Grove Gallery in Fitzrovia, London and taking the limited edition piece in a 30-second burglary on September 8 last year.

Footage shown to jurors at Kingston Crown Court on Wednesday shows Lowe’s van pulling up near the Grove Gallery just after the break-in.

Fraser can then be seen 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.”‘

Love, who denied suggestions that he acted as the getaway driver, said he started shouting abuse at Fraser after they left the scene.

He added: ‘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.

‘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”.’

The builder admitted that he took the piece out of his van and stashed it in a locked storage cupboard at a property he managed.

But Love said he hid the artwork in the Isle of Dogs flat because he wanted to give it back to the gallery.

He told jurors: ‘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.’

Police eventually tracked down the artwork using a map and instructions given to them by Love at his first court appearance.

Love also agreed that he did not give Fraser 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.’

The accused said he knew Fraser for 20 years and that 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 sent to Fraser over time, often around £20 but as large as £200 on the day of the burglary.

Love insisted this sum was a mistake, explaining: ‘It should have been £20 and I put an extra zero on it.

‘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.’

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

Prosecutor Scott asked: ‘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 claim Love was in regular contact with Fraser on the day of the burglary and drove there the morning before the break-in.

He is also said to own a large number of love-heart based pictures but denied stealing the Banksy to add to his own collection.

Jurors also heard how the burglary had happened around the time of Love’s partner’s 50th birthday, whose name is Heart.

The trial continues.

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