Kempton Bunton

Kempton Bunton was a disabled British pensioner who allegedly stole Francisco Goya's painting "Portrait of the Duke of Wellington" from the National Gallery in London in 1961. [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/arts/3590106.stm Greatest heists in art history] , BBC, 23 August, 2004.] Antonio Nicita and Matteo Rizzolli, "Screaming Too Mu(n)ch? The economics of art thefts", 18th Erfurt workshop on Law and Economics held on March 23 and 24, 2005.]

The motive

Bunton was a retired bus driver who earned only £8 in 1961.Sean P. Steele, "Swindles, Stickups, and Robberies", pp 74-78. ISBN 1-85627-706-2.] In that year, Charles Wrightsman, a rich American art collector who made his money in the oil business, purchased Goya's painting "Portrait of the Duke of Wellington" for the sum of £140,000 ($390,000). He had plans to take it to the United States. [http://www.forbes.com/lifestyle/2006/09/01/munch-art-theft_cx_db_0901artthefts.html World's Greatest Art Heists] , Forbes, September 1, 2006.] The British Government decided to buy the painting for a sum of £140,000 to keep the painting on British soil. However, this move is reported to have enraged Bunton, who was embittered at having to pay the BBC Television licence fee from his modest income.

Theft of the painting

From conversations with the guards, Bunton learned that the elaborate infra-red sensors/alarms of the electronic security system were turned off in the early morning to allow the cleaners to do their work. On the early morning of August 21, 1961, Bunton loosened a window in a toilet and entered the gallery. He prised off the framed painting from the display and escaped via the window.

The police initially assumed an expert art thief to be behind the heist. However, a letter was sent to the Reuters news agency, asking for a donation of £140,000 to charity to allow the poor to pay for TV licences and an amnesty for the thief, for which the painting would be returned. However, this was declined.

The theft entered popular culture, as it was referenced in the James Bond film "Dr. No". In the film, the painting was shown hanging in Dr. No's lair.

Return and prosecution

In 1965, four years after the theft, Bunton contacted a newspaper, and through a left luggage office at Birmingham New Street Station, returned the painting voluntarily. Six weeks later, he also surrendered to the police, who initially discounted him as a suspect, considering the unlikeliness of a 61 year old retiree executing the heist.

During the trial the jury only convicted Bunton of the theft of the frame (which was not returned). Since his defence successfully claimed that he never wanted to keep the painting, he was not convicted of stealing the portrait itself. Bunton was sentenced to 3 months in prison. A provision in the Theft Act 1968, where section 11 makes it illegal to remove without authority any object displayed or kept for display to the public in a building to which the public have access, was enacted as a direct result of this case. [http://www.culture.gov.uk/PDF/Report%20of%20Advisory%20Panel%20on%20Illicit%20Trade.pdf Report] : Ministerial Advisory Panel on Illicit Trade, British Department for Culture, Media and Sport, pp 15, December 2000.]

Some documents released in 1996 by the National Gallery are said to reveal his possible innocence.

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