If you're familiar with Banksy, then you'll know that he's a pretty difficult character to track down, and has done a good job of keeping his identity a secret to the world at large.
That didn't prove to be the case for one young student on a train, however, who claims that a man who said he was Banksy handed him a signed print of his work after he helped him pick up some of his belongings that he'd dropped on the ground.
Ben Azarya, a 14-year-old student, stopped to help a man who later identified himself as 'Robin Banks' (a name that has been associated with Banksy previously), and was recipient of what could be a very nice reward for his good deed as a result. Speaking to The Mirror, he said that the man opened his bag on the train and "got out a piece of paper and had colours marked on it of what he had been trying out and he dropped his colours. I picked them up for him and after that he started signing it in weird letters and numbers. He said ‘do you know who Robin Banks is?'". At that point, he handed him a print of his and signed it, telling him it would be worth around £20,000 (just over €25,000) and said "have a good life".
He was white, in his late 40s. He was wearing scruffy clothes and he had a black, fluffy hat which looked really old. He had a little jacket that didn’t go over his arms and jeans with paint on.
Azarya said he wasn't sure who he was, but figured it out when he got home and Googled the name, he found out that the piece he had could be very valuable indeed. He said that the man was "White, in his late 40s. He was wearing scruffy clothes and he had a black, fluffy hat which looked really old. He had a little jacket that didn’t go over his arms and jeans with paint on. He looked really wacky and had blond hair and blue eyes".
Ben and his mother have contacted Bonhams Auction House about the print, who suggested that they should get it authenticated, and then go from there. While Ben is not getting his hopes up too much,and said that he would buy a new phone, spend £1,000 and save the rest.
However, the BBC are not so sure that was him and claim that they've heard from "his people", who deny that the print given to Ben was not legitimate. His people would say that though, wouldn't they...
We have just heard from #banksy's people, who tell us the painting given to 14 year old Ben Azarya on a train in Cumbria is NOT by him.
— BBC Radio Bristol (@bbcrb) January 9, 2015
Via The Mirror. Main pic via Steve Spller/WENN