A man who stole a Banksy painting from a London art gallery to pay off a historic drug debt has been handed a 13-month prison sentence.

Larry Fraser stole a limited edition print of the artist’s Girl With Balloon series, worth £270,000.

Kingston Crown Court heard how the 49-year-old repeatedly smashed the glass door of Grove Gallery in Fitzrovia last September before entering and taking off with the artwork.

Sentencing him today, judge Anne Brown described the burglary as ‘brazen and serious non-domestic burglary.’

Fraser said he owed money because of a historic drug debt, which he was struggling to settle. He said he agreed to carry out the theft ‘under a degree of pressure and fear’, adding he did not know the target of the burglary until the day of the offence.

He also said he did

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