Could Banksy be banged up? Legal experts claim artist committed criminal damage during Sotheby's shredding stunt because auctioneer's hammer had come down on £1m sale of Girl With Balloon painting
- Banksy could face police questioning if his identity is revealed, legal expert said
- Girl With Balloon was shredded at an auction in Sotheby's in London
- Salomé Verrell, a solicitor and a senior lecturer said it could be 'criminal damage'
Banksy 'committed criminal damage' when he shredded his own artwork in a public stunt - because the auctioneer's hammer had come down, legal experts now claim.
Salomé Verrell, a solicitor and a senior lecturer at the University of Law, said the artist was breaking the law at the famous auction in Sotheby's in October when he turned on a device which destroyed the painting.
Just as the auctioneer's hammer went down on the Girl With Balloon it fed through a shredder hidden into the frame, shocking everyone in the audience.
Despite the buyer spending £1million on the painting experts said the value would actually have gone up because of the stunt - and not down - as the work was renamed 'love is in the bin'.
But now Salomé says that Banksy was breaking the law with the stunt and could expect to see police at his door - if they can figure out who he is.
She said: 'When Banksy shredded the painting, he was damaging someone else's property, and he did so intentionally and knowing that it belonged to someone else.
Sotheby's employees pose with the newly completed work by artist Banksy entitled 'Love is in the Bin', a work that was created when the painting 'Girl with Balloon' was passed through a shredder
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Girl With Balloon: Banksy's iconic artwork
Girl With Balloon is one of graffiti artist Banksy's most famous murals.
The imagery was first spotted on the wall of a shop in 2002, in Great Eastern Street, east London.
It features just two simple shapes, with the statement: 'There is always hope'.
The girl depicts a Syrian refugee, an imagery which Banksy uses many times in his murals.
The iconic mural was last year voted the nation's favourite artwork.
The image was chosen above the likes of Constable's Hay Wain and Jack Vettriano's Singing Butler.
Featuring on the shop wall for more than 12 years. it was also set to be removed and sold in 2014.
Events company Sincura Group, which controversially removed another Banksy mural in Tottenham, said would exhibited the work before selling it for about £500,000.
A man who works in the printing shop said in he had not seen the Banksy mural for years because it was been covered with boards.
In March 2015, the third anniversary of the Syria conflict, Banksy reworked the painting to depict a Syrian refugee and added #WithSyria.
The image was later projected on the Eiffel Tower and Nelson's column in Paris.
Justin Bieber famously got the image tattooed on his arm, which was blasted by Banksy himself.
A Facebook page which is thought to represent the mysterious Banksy posted a photo of the ink with the caption: 'controversial.'
A version of the artwork painted onto the cardboard backing of an Ikea frame sold for £73,250 in 2012.
'It seems Banksy is not content with alleged criminal damage of buildings but now has apparently criminally damaged someone else's painting.
'The painting belonged to the highest bidder because the hammer had gone down and the sale had ended before the shredding began.
'Therefore at the time of shredding, the painting belonged to someone other than Banksy and he knew that since he was selling it at auction.
'He intended to destroy it knowing it belonged to someone else.'
Salomé said that Banksy fell fowl of the Sale of Goods Act 1979, and the Criminal Damage Act 1971.
She said that under the sale of goods act, the artwork transferred to the new owner as soon as the gavel fell.
And under the Criminal Damage act, as the artwork no longer belonged to Banksy, shredding it amounted to an offence.
She continued: 'It could however be said that he actually improved (or increased the value) of the piece, and that (unknown to the buyer) it was a dynamic and evolving piece of art.
'If I buy a house where the carpets are old and tatty, and then prior to moving in the original owner fits new carpets, does the same apply?
'The lady who bought the painting was happy with the result. It would be interesting if she had decided she didn't want the piece in the end!
'Damage is a matter of fact and degree in each case.
'If the piece itself is damaged by shredding this does seem to fit the definition of 'damage' within the Act, but the increase in value may throw this into doubt.
'However, just like his antics when spray painting someone's exterior walls, without a loser, that is, someone to make a complaint to the authorities, it seems Banksy will continue to get away with breaking the law, in the name of art.
'I liked the artistic value of what he did in shredding the painting but it is interesting that Banksy tends to use someone else's property to make his artistic statements.
'It is also interesting that so far Banksy has got away with breaking the law.
'I don't think most people who aren't called Banksy would get away with such behaviour.'
The moment the painting was sold for £1.04million at Sotheby's seconds before the painting was shredded
A member of auction staff can be seen on the phone to the successful after the painting self-destructed
The clip posted by Banksy on Instagram, which he deleted shortly after, showed how he fitted a shredder that was controlled by a remote device
Banksy posted a video online that revealed how he claimed to have built a shredding device in the frame of the painting
Girl With Balloon and the artwork was due to go to a new owner, it instead fed through a shredder hidden into the frame
