Warrant issued for man charged with theft of £95K Banksy art

He failed to turn up for his arraignment hearing in Belfast

A judge today issued a bench warrant for the arrest of a man charged with stealing a £95,000 piece of Banksy artwork.

Ahmed Bouazzi, 40, of Roden Street, Belfast was due to be arraigned at Belfast Crown Court for a single charge of theft.

Co-accused Adil Hajjaj, 50, of Sandymount Street, Belfast was formally arraigned and pleaded guilty to theft of the limited edition ‘Laugh Now’ print from Charles Gilmore Fine Art gallery on April 2 this year.

He further pleaded guilty to receiving stolen goods on the same date, namely a bottle of rum from Ross’s Auctioneers.

Belfast Recorder Judge Patricia Smyth said she would sentence Hajjaj on Thursday, September 4, 2025. Defence barrister Luke Curran told the court that Bouazzi had not turned up for his arraignment hearing.

“Contact with him has been fairly steady and the client was advised of today’s date. I have no reason for his non attendance today,” said Mr Curran.

A prosecution barrister said she had an application for an arrest warrant for Bouazzi.

“There was a bail variation hearing last month to allow him to travel to Tunisia which was refused because of the risk flight that concerned us,” said the prosecutor.

“Now he has not turned up in court for his arraignment there is an application for an arrest warrant to be issued.”

The Belfast Recorder said he would issue a warrant for the defendant’s arrest.

During the bail variation hearing last month, Mr Curran said Bouazzi wanted to return to his home country of Tunisia to visit his father who was in “frail health”.

Mr Curran told the court Bouazzi had not seen his father since 2021 and would like to see him again.

“It is a holiday not a medical emergency. He has his Tunisian passport and was never asked to surrender it,” said Mr Curran.

“He has been on bail since the commission of the offence and has not attempted to abscond and has not already booked the flights. It is proposed that his partner might join him the week after. His partner has £5,000 of savings in a credit union account and she could sign bail for him for the duration of his trip which could be of reassurance to the court.”

He added that Bouazzi has been in Northern Ireland for 14 years and has been with his partner for nine years. He denies any involvement in the theft, the court was told.

A prosecution barrister said Bouazzi has been charged with a “high value theft of some £95,000 worth of a piece of art which is a limited edition of a Banksy print”.

She added: “This does not appear to be a spur of the moment theft but rather it was subject to some amount of planning. This defendant’s role in the theft was that he went into the art gallery first and intentionally distracted the only staff member present.

“She described him ‘moving towards me towering over me in an attempt to distract me and divert my attention, physically leaning over me and blocking my view while leaning over me’.”

The theft took place around 4 pm on Wednesday, April 2, 2025, and the defendant and co-accused were detained around 20 minutes later by police on the Ormeau Road in south Belfast.

She said Bouazzi was carrying the stolen painting in a plastic bag. Although he had no convictions for theft, she said he had two previous breaches of court orders.

“The timing of this application is of great concern to police. He is due to be arraigned on August 26, 2025. He wants to go on holiday and there is no mutual extradition treaty between Tunisia and the UK.

“So if he doesn’t come back, we can’t get him back. The risk of flight is overwhelming. It is submitted that he has an enduring relationship with his partner and that is why he would come back but if his partner goes with him that mitigation disappears entirely.”

The prosecutor added not only should the bail variation be refused but Bouazzi should be ordered by the court to surrender his passport and travel documents immediately.

“Given the value of the stolen item, we say he is facing a period in custody if convicted and the risk of flight cannot be managed,” said the prosecution lawyer.

Following submissions, the judge said the risk of flight was well made and refused the bail variation.

“I think it is appropriate that the defendant surrenders all travel documents, including his Tunisian passport, forthwith,” she added.

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