A man has been jailed for burgling one of Damien Hirst’s studios after police traced the movements of his GPS-enabled ankle tag.
Liam Middleton-Gomm, 36, broke into Thames Wharf Studios in west London on 30 June and stole about £5,130 of goods including electronic items, clothing and a pram.
The burglar smashed the window beside a fire exit and reached in to activate its shutter, the prosecutor, Paul Andrews, told Kingston crown court on Thursday.
Middleton-Gomm, of no fixed abode, attended the studio on two occasions that evening and went to his father’s property with some of the stolen goods, the court heard.
It is understood Middleton-Gomm stole several leather jackets that were being embellished, trousers, embroidered shirts, and a Dior pram with silver skulls on the wheels. Some of the property was sold on and has not been recovered.
His father, Leslie Gomm, 62, of Fulham, west London, previously pleaded guilty to handling stolen goods for his son’s benefit and was given a one-year conditional release on Thursday. He had been in custody for three-and-a-half months before his sentencing.
The prosecution said Gomm did not know the studio was being burgled.
Police charged the burglar after examining data from his GPS ankle tag and DNA at the scene, Andrews told the court.
Judge Barklem sentenced Middleton-Gomm to 32 months in prison and said: “You were actually wearing a GPS tag that was part of your licence conditions when you were carrying out these offences.”
The court heard Middleton-Gomm has 39 previous convictions involving 83 offences, including several house burglaries. The judge added: “Your appalling previous record is of course a serious aggravating factor”.
Kathleen Mulhern, defending Middleton-Gomm, said her client had a “significant fall” in 2023 that caused injuries to his spine and pelvis and lasting pain that is treated by a “quite strong” painkiller.
The judge confirmed the fall happened “while running away from police, resulting in a metal pole in his back”.
Middleton-Gomm had pleaded guilty to two counts of burgling Hirst’s riverside studio.
He was also sentenced for two house burglaries on 9 July and 17 July, as well as the attempted burglary of a property on 9 July.
The Bristol-born, Leeds-raised artist Hirst came to attention in 1988 when he was a student at Goldsmiths, University of London, where he conceived and curated the group exhibition Freeze.
He won the Turner prize in 1995 for work that included his formaldehyde-preserved cow and calf, called Mother and Child, Divided.
Lord James Timpson, the minister for prisons, said in a statement released after the hearing: “Our GPS tags send a clear message to offenders: if you break the law, we’ll know where you’ve been and justice will come for you.”
More than 22,000 offenders and defendants were wearing an electronic tag as of September 2025.
The government plans to tag thousands more criminals during the next three years as part of its policy changes.
