Ex-thief is aiming to steal the Chelsea Flower Show

A FORMER art thief caught with works by Warhol, Dali and Chagall is helping to create a garden for Chelsea Flower Show.

Dean Stalham was sentenced to three and a half years in jail after trying to sell paintings including a Warhol print of Marilyn Monroe worth £10 million.

While in prison he took up art and started to write plays. Now the Eden Project has commissioned him to work on a show garden that will raise awareness about homelessness.

It will feature 10,000 plants, including some species never before seen in Britain. Spray-painted images by Stalham of homeless people will emblazon a series of boards, and a poem by him will adorn the posts of the installation.

Homeless people from across Britain are helping with the project. Stalham said the aim was to break down stereotypes "in the most innovative ways possible". "This project has enabled me to interact with disadvantaged people I've been working with, sharing my story. Being homeless is not too dissimilar to being a prisoner."

Stalham, 45, was caught with Warhol prints of Monroe, Superman and Chairman Mao. He also had 33 pieces by Salvador Dali, 13 by Marc Chagall, a Cindy Sherman, and a £1 million 18th century fireplace. He was convicted of handling stolen goods in 2004 and let out of jail in 2006. By that time he had won awards organised by prison charity the Koestler Trust for his artwork and a play.

Last year, two of his plays had runs in London, including Senti-Mental at the Union Theatre in Southwark. A new work, Bobby's Girl, is on at the Royal Festival Hall in June. Stalham, who was born in Cricklewood and now lives in Weybridge, said: "Art used to be a quick buck for me, nothing else. I went to jail as someone who objectified art, and felt very little for it. Now art is my life."

Chelsea Flower Show runs from 19 to 23 May. Stalham has worked on the project with charities including NOAH Enterprise, which supports homeless and socially excluded people, and Architecture Sans Frontières, which trains people to work on construction projects for international development.