Artist exhibits 200 stolen coats so owners can reclaim them

Artist Mike Ballard, 38, is to exhibit more than 200 garments he has taken in London in what he claims was a decade-long obsessive compulsive reaction to having his own jacket pilfered.

And he now hopes to return as many to the original owners as possible — providing they have enough detail of the theft to convince him.

After the first 30 or so, he began documenting the date and place of the crimes as well as pocket contents which ranged from tissues to knives.

He was shocked into stopping last year when he took what he fears was a groom's coat complete with diamond ring. "I'm not proud about what I've done and I realise that I need to make amends and return the coats to their rightful owners," he said.

The crime spree began when his own smart new £150 jacket, purchased to mark his move to London from north Wales to work in telecoms, was stolen from the Griffin pub in Shoreditch in 1999. "I was gutted. Then maybe a month after it had gone, I was really drunk in a pub and it was just a split-second thing. I thought maybe I'll steal my own coat back."

Ballard, who graduated in fine art from Central Saint Martins three years ago, admits that putting on the show — at Walker's Tailor, Robert Street, Euston, from October 8-23 — is risky.

"I hope I don't get into too much trouble," he said. Police were unable to comment.