23-05-2025
EXCLUSIVE Multimillionaire's son avoiding prison for his involvement in sale of stolen £4.8 million Golden Toilet is 'laughable', art theft expert Christopher A. Marinello tells new Mail podcast
It is 'laughable' that Fred Doe, the son of a multimillionaire caravan magnate, avoided a jail sentence for his involvement in the sale of a £4.8 million golden toilet stolen from Blenheim Palace, an art theft expert told the Mail's 'The Trial' podcast.
Fred Doe, 37, was convicted following a trial in March of attempting to broker the sale of around 10 kilos of the stolen gold on behalf of burglar and family friend James Sheen, 40.
Judge Ian Pringle KC sentenced Doe to 21 months in prison, suspended for two years, after accepting that he had strong personal mitigation due to his wife's poor health and the wellbeing of his children.
Lawyer Christopher A. Marinello, one of the world's foremost experts in recovering stolen, looted, and missing works of art, said the awarding of a suspended sentence shows ' crime does pay in the UK.'
'It's laughable', Mr Marniello told crime reporters, Jack Hardy and Caroline Cheetham.
'It's not a deterrent. The bottom line is that this was a laughably light sentence. It shows that the judges, and the prosecutors, are disconnected from victims worldwide.
'The sentencing says we do not treat burglaries and art crimes as seriously as other crimes. That we do not realise the scars the victims get when they are robbed, when everything they have worked for is taken away from them.
'That says to criminals – come to London, crime does pay in the UK.'
Doe became involved in the conspiracy when he heard Sheen - whom he knew through the traveller community - had snatched the toilet and offered to use his extensive contacts in Hatton Garden to sell the stolen gold.
Crispin Aylett KC, defending Doe, told the court that he was a 'bit-part player who succeeded only in delaying James Sheen from converting his gold into cash'.
Failing to sell the gold in London, Sheen took it Birmingham, later bragging in a text message to Doe hat he had made £520,000 from selling his share of the gold to an unidentified jeweller.
Asked to speculate where the stolen gold could be now, Mr Marniello said: 'It could be anywhere'.
Subscribe to The Crime Desk to hear exclusive coverage of the Sycamore Gap trial on The Trial+ Join here
Despite the creator of the golden toilet, Maurizio Cattelan, finding amusement in his work of art being stolen, the lawyer was keen to stress that the heist was not a victimless crime.
'It's the insurance company that's the victim here', Mr Marniello said.
'And guess what? The insurance company is going to raise its rates – and who's going to pay for that? You and me.
'When they raise their rates – their stocks go down – and their stocks are owned by our pension plans. We are the victims in all of this.'
The 18-carat golden toilet was an artwork called 'America' and was plumbed in at Blenheim Palace for visitors to use at an exhibition in September 2019.
But in the early hours of September 14 - just two days after the toilet went on display - a gang of five men came screeching into the grounds of Winston Churchill's birthplace in two stolen cars.
Extraordinary CCTV captured the unfolding raid as three of the men smashed their way through a window with sledgehammers and crowbars and emerged just minutes later with the golden toilet. No trace has ever been found.
Follow the exclusive Trial podcast for the upcoming sentencing of James Sheen and Michael Jones for their involvement in the theft and sale of the Golden Toilet.
To hear the Mail's award-winning coverage of the Golden Toliet trial, as the case unfolds, subscribe to The Crime Desk today.
