3 days ago
Two men jailed for theft of £4.75m gold toilet from Blenheim Palace
Two men have been jailed for the theft of a £4.75 million gold toilet from Blenheim Palace.
The fully-functioning 18-carat gold toilet, which had been installed as an artwork at the Oxfordshire country house where Sir Winston Churchill was born, was stolen in a raid in the early hours of September 14 2019.
Michael Jones, 39, from Oxford, has been jailed for 27 months.
James Sheen, 40, from Wellingborough, Northamptonshire, has received a four-year prison sentence.
Sheen is also serving a 19-year sentence for a string of thefts, including £400,000 worth of tractors and high-value trophies from the National Horse Racing Museum in Newmarket.
The pair were part of the gang who planned and carried out the burglary of the Oxfordshire stately home.
The fully functioning toilet was created by Italian artist Maurizio Cattelan and was a star attraction in an exhibition at Blenheim Palace, the house where Sir Winston Churchill was born.
The heist took place hours after a glamorous launch party, and the distinctive toilet was split up or melted down and sold on soon after it was stolen and has never been recovered.
The toilet was stolen during a five-minute period by sledgehammer-wielding thieves who smashed their way in, Oxford Crown Court heard.
They drove through locked wooden gates into the grounds of the palace in two stolen vehicles before breaking in through a window.
Entitled America, the toilet weighed approximately 98 kilogrammes, was insured for six million US dollars (£4.75 million) and was made from gold, which was itself worth about £2.8 million.
Passing sentence, Judge Ian Pringle KC said: 'This bold and brazen heist took no more than five-and-a-half minutes to complete.
"America has never been seen again."
