Latest news with #MichaelJones
Yahoo
7 hours ago
- General
- Yahoo
James Anderson stars for Lancashire in first T20 appearance for 11 years
James Anderson took three wickets in his first T20 match for 11 years as Lancashire beat Durham at Chester-le-Street to claim a third consecutive Vitality Blast North Group win. The 42-year-old former England seamer had not played a sprint-format match since the Red Rose faced Warwickshire at Edgbaston in August 2014. But, having retired from international duty, Anderson returned with a bang by returning figures of three for 17 from four overs to help Lancashire limit the hosts to 150 for six. Michael Jones hit 55 before Jack Blatherwick's single from the final delivery then took Lancashire home by four wickets.
The Independent
7 hours ago
- Entertainment
- The Independent
James Anderson stars for Lancashire in first T20 appearance for 11 years
James Anderson took three wickets in his first T20 match for 11 years as Lancashire beat Durham at Chester-le-Street to claim a third consecutive Vitality Blast North Group win. The 42-year-old former England seamer had not played a sprint-format match since the Red Rose faced Warwickshire at Edgbaston in August 2014. But, having retired from international duty, Anderson returned with a bang by returning figures of three for 17 from four overs to help Lancashire limit the hosts to 150 for six. Michael Jones hit 55 before Jack Blatherwick's single from the final delivery then took Lancashire home by four wickets.
Telegraph
19-05-2025
- Telegraph
Golden lavatory theft middle man avoids prison
A watch dealer who tried to sell parts of a £4.8 million golden lavatory stolen from Blenheim Palace claimed he had been 'taken advantage of' by a gang of burglars. Frederick Doe, 37, avoided jail on Monday for his part in the heist after a judge handed him a 21-month sentence, suspended for two years. The 18-carat lavatory was snatched in September 2019 by a gang of five men, who smashed their way into the palace before fleeing in a stolen car. One of the criminals, Michael Jones, 39, was convicted of burglary in connection with the crime after a trial in March. The alleged mastermind, James Sheen, 40, pleaded guilty to burglary last year. Doe had helped Sheen try to sell some of the gold in the weeks following the theft after he was 'targeted' by the gang because of his legitimate contacts in the Hatton Garden jewellery district. He had approached a jeweller and arranged for him to value the gold, but the sale collapsed. The jeweller, Bora Guccuk, was acquitted at trial of laundering the stolen goods. At Oxford Crown Court on Monday, judge Ian Pringle KC sentenced Doe to 21 months imprisonment, suspended for two years, and ordered him to do 240 hours of unpaid work. Speaking outside court, Doe said: 'My good nature has been taken advantage of. I got caught up in something I should not have and now I just want to go home and enjoy my family. I am a good person.' He left in a car surrounded by a group of friends, who shouted, 'He is a good person,' and said they would be going for a drink to celebrate. Mr Pringle said the value of the gold Doe was trying to sell was likely to have been around £250,000. None of the gold has been recovered. The judge said: 'A work of art named America was stolen from Blenheim Palace when it was on display there. Those responsible for that audacious heist were all clearly interested in disposing of their ill-gotten gains quickly. 'One of them was James Sheen. He knew you or knew of you through a mutual friend. He clearly also knew you had business connections, entirely legitimate ones, I might add, with Hatton Gardens in London. 'You foolishly agreed to assist him, and I use your words during the trial when asked how you felt about this now and you said 'I feel a fool'. You agreed to assist Mr Sheen without any hope or indeed any expectation of any reward for yourself.' He said Doe, a father of four, was of previous good character and was described as someone whose good nature 'people take advantage of'. The judge took into account several mitigating factors such as his work training underprivileged young athletes, and the fact his wife had recently been diagnosed with cancer. He rejected the suggestion by prosecutor Julian Christopher KC that Doe was one of the main players in the conspiracy. 'You were, at best, a middle man who was targeted by James Sheen as you knew people in Hatton Garden because of your knowledge of valuable watches,' he said. Doe is the son of Maurice Sines, a multi-millionaire caravan park magnate who has been accused by Irish authorities of being an associate of the notorious Kinahan Cartel. He has previously denied having anything to do with the world of organised crime, claiming he was being persecuted just for being friends with the Kinahans. Sheen and fellow burglar Jones are due to be sentenced over their role in the raid next month.
Sky News
19-05-2025
- Sky News
Man who tried to sell stolen £4.75m golden toilet from Blenheim Palace sentenced
A man involved in a plot to steal £4.75m gold toilet from the house where Sir Winston Churchill was born has been handed a suspended sentence. The fully functioning 18-carat gold artwork, titled America, was stolen from Blenheim Palace in Oxfordshire during the early hours of 14 September 2019. In March, Frederick Doe, 36, was found guilty of conspiracy to convert or transfer criminal property. On Monday at Oxford Crown Court, Judge Ian Pringle KC sentenced Doe to 21 months imprisonment suspended for two years and ordered him to do 240 hours unpaid work. A court previously heard how Doe, also known as Frederick Sines, from Windsor in Berkshire, helped mastermind James Sheen sell some of the gold in the weeks after the theft. Sheen, from Wellingborough in Northamptonshire, had earlier pleaded guilty to burglary. He also admitted conspiracy to transfer criminal property and one count of transferring criminal property at Oxford Crown Court in April 2024. Co-accused Michael Jones, from Oxford, had denied any wrongdoing, but was found guilty of burglary at the time of Doe's conviction. Speaking outside court, Doe said he had been taken advantage of by those who stole the toilet. "My good nature has been taken advantage of. I got caught up in something I should not have and now I just want to go home and enjoy my family. I am a good person," he told the PA news agency. He left court in a car surrounded by a group of friends, who shouted "he is a good person" and said they would be going for a drink to celebrate. Both Sheen and Jones will be sentenced next month. How the theft unfolded During court proceedings, Prosecutor Julian Christopher KC said five men carried out the raid; however, only Jones and Sheen have been caught. Sheen and his accomplices drove two stolen vehicles, a VW Golf and an Isuzu truck, through locked gates at Blenheim Palace shortly before 5am on the night of the raid. Thames Valley Police said three men armed with sledgehammers and a crowbar gained entry to the palace, smashed through the solid wooden door and tore the toilet from its fixings. The carefully planned raid was over within five minutes. The gold was believed to be worth about £2.8m at the time of the theft. 1:13 However, the artwork, which weighed around 98kg, had been insured for the price of £4.75m. A couple of days after the burglary, Sheen contacted Doe about selling the gold. Through coded messages, the two men talked about "cars" and getting offered "26 and a half" - which the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) argued referred to the men getting £26,500 per kilo of the stolen gold. Jones, who had visited the stately home twice in the days before the raid, was arrested on 16 October 2019 before officers analysed his phone. The force found he had searched for news reports about the stolen toilet on 20 September 2019. Meanwhile, Sheen's DNA was found both on a sledgehammer left at the scene and in the stolen Isuzu truck used in the raid. Tracksuit bottoms seized at his home had hundreds of gold fragments on them, which, when analysed, were indistinguishable from the gold from which the toilet was made. The sculpture, which was created by Italian artist Maurizio Cattelan, was the star attraction of an exhibition at the country house before it was stolen. It could be used as a toilet by members of the public, with Jones telling the jury he took advantage of the artwork's "facilities" during a visit to Blenheim Palace the day before it was taken. Asked what it was like, he replied: "Splendid."
The Guardian
19-05-2025
- The Guardian
Man handed suspended sentence over role in Blenheim Palace £4.8m gold toilet heist
One of the gang members convicted over the theft of a £4.8m gold toilet from an art exhibition at Blenheim Palace has been handed a suspended sentence at Oxford crown court. Frederick Doe, 36, also known as Frederick Sines, from Windsor, had been convicted by a jury of conspiring to transfer criminal property. He was accused of offering to find a buyer for the gold and brokering the deal. Judge Ian Pringle KC sentenced Doe to 21 months' imprisonment suspended for two years and ordered him to do 240 hours of unpaid work. Doe was found guilty by a jury at the same court in March of conspiracy to transfer criminal property. He helped one of the men who pleaded guilty to carrying out the burglary, James Sheen, to sell some of the gold in the following weeks, the court heard. The judge said Doe had been of previous good character and accepted that the conspirators may have taken advantage of his good nature. Pringle said Doe was 'targeted' for his legitimate contacts in the Hatton Garden jewellery district. The 18-carat fully functioning lavatory, which weighed about 98kg, was stolen in September 2019 while it was featuring in an art exhibition and is believed to have been broken up and disposed of. None of the gold has been recovered. Two other men will be sentenced in June for their part in the heist. Michael Jones was found guilty of planning the burglary and James Sheen admitted stealing the toilet.
