Painting by Rolling Stones legend Ronnie Wood stolen by thief riding a bike
A thief was jailed for brazenly walking out of a Mayfair gallery with a painting by Rolling Stones star Ronnie Wood .
Audacious thief, Nigel Dennis Cooper, 56, took the £8,750 painting - titled Dollar Sign - from its exhibition hook at the Castle Gallery last April.
Cooper, of Macklin Street, Covent Garden, had scouted the gallery out the previous day and returned to steal the picture.
But he was caught out when a member of staff chased him and found him hauling the painting down the street.
Cooper had not brought anything to conceal the painting and, instead of a getaway car, had brought a bicycle.
He was jailed for eight weeks at Southwark Crown Court last month for theft and breaching a conditional discharge.
At the Court of Appeal, his barrister, Piers Mostyn, argued that the term was too tough and should be reduced to allow him to walk free.
The crown court judge had been wrong to describe the theft of the painting as involving a 'high level of planning', Mr Mostyn told the court.
'Unusually for an item of this value, there was no security,' he said.
'This was a painting that simply could be lifted off the wall. This was a straightforward walk-in theft.'
But Mr Justice Edis, sitting with Lord Justice Fulford and Mr Justice Jay, said just because it was not sophisticated did not mean it was not planned.
'The judge's decision not to suspend the sentence does not render the resulting sentence manifestly excessive,' he said.
The appeal was dismissed.
Cooper had a previous conviction for walking out of Liberty department store with £140 worth of perfume.
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