A court has revealed that thieves executed an audacious raid at Blenheim Palace, making off with a solid gold toilet valued at £4.8 million in a mere five minutes.
In September 2019, a fully functioning toilet was installed at a stately home in Oxfordshire as part of an art exhibition.
Michael Jones, 39, a resident of Divinity Road in Oxford, has pleaded not guilty to burglary. Fred Doe, formerly known as Frederick Sines, 36, hails from Windsor, and 41-year-old Bora Guccuk, a resident of west London, has entered pleas of not guilty to conspiring to transfer criminal property.
During the proceedings at Oxford Crown Court, it was revealed that the toilet was likely dismantled and has not been found since.
In a dramatic turn of events, Prosecutor Julian Christopher KC informed the court that a group of five individuals, travelling in two vehicles, forcefully breached the locked gates of Blenheim Palace during the early hours of September 14, 2019, and proceeded to vandalise the interior with sledgehammers.
During the proceedings, it was revealed that the sledgehammers had been abandoned at the location.
A photograph was captured seventeen hours before the toilet was stolen, and Mr Christopher testified in court that Mr Jones had removed it while he was “there as part of the reconnaissance for the burglary.”
Mr Christopher informed the court that the raid lasted a mere five minutes.
He stated that the artwork had yet to be found. The gold had been divided into smaller quantities and had not been retrieved.
In April 2024, jurors learnt that James Sheen, a 40-year-old resident of Wellingborough in Northamptonshire, admitted to charges of burglary, transferring criminal property, and conspiracy to commit similar offences.
The 18-carat gold toilet, titled America, was featured in an exhibition by Italian conceptual artist Maurizio Cattelan.
The object in question weighed 98 kilogrammes and was covered by an insurance policy valued at $6 million. The court was informed that gold prices during that period would have valued the gold at £2.8 million in September 2019.
The prosecutor revealed that a collection of messages, voice notes, and screengrabs found on the phones of Mr Sheen, Mr Doe, and Mr Guccuk indicated that the three individuals discussed a price of £25,632 per kilo for approximately 20kg of the stolen gold.
Reports indicate that Mr. Guccuk, the operator of the jewellers Pacha of London located in Hatton Garden, was poised to earn approximately £3,000 in profit for each kilogramme sold.
The palace, recognised as a UNESCO World Heritage Site, is historically significant as the birthplace of Sir Winston Churchill.
