The 18-carat gold loo, worth £4.8m, was nabbed by the gang in the middle of the night before it was broken up and sold on – with none of the gold recovered since the 2019 burglary
Three men who stole a multi-million pound gold toilet from Blenheim Palace before breaking it into pieces and selling it have been found guilty.
The 18-carat gold loo – a work of art insured for $6m (£4.75m) and weighing approximately 98kg – was nabbed by the gang under the cover of darkness just two days after it was installed as part of an exhibition at the Oxfordshire stately home. James Sheen, 40, and his accomplices drove two stolen vehicles through the palace’s locked gates just before 5am on September 14, 2019. CCTV footage, which was played in court, showed the trio armed with sledgehammers and crowbars which they used to break into the mansion and remove the fully functioning toilet.
It was then loaded into the back of one of the stolen vehicles before the trio fled the scene. The carefully planned raid was over within just five minutes. Just days later, the artwork, named America, had been broken up and sold on – with none of the gold having been recovered since.
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Shan Saunders of the Crown Prosecution Service said: “This was an audacious raid which had been carefully planned and executed – but those responsible were not careful enough, leaving a trail of evidence in the form of forensics, CCTV footage and phone data. It has been a complex case to prosecute, involving a nationwide investigation with many lines of inquiry to identify those who were subsequently charged in relation to the theft.
“While none of the gold was ever recovered – no doubt having been broken up or melted down and sold on soon after it was stolen – we are confident this prosecution has played a part in disrupting a wider crime and money laundering network.”
James Sheen, 40, from Oxford, pleaded guilty to the crime last year after police found his DNA at the scene and gold fragments in his clothing. While Sheen was one of the masterminds behind the burglary, Michael Jones, 39, played his part by carrying out a reconnaissance visit at the palace in the days prior to the theft and was present on the night the toilet was stolen.
As put to Jones at trial by prosecutors, on his first visit ahead of the art exhibition opening, he took photos from inside the building of the window that the thieves would use to enter the palace. The day before the raid he took photos of the toilet itself, the lock on the toilet door and further pictures of the same window from the outside.
A few days after the burglary, Sheen contacted Fred Doe, 36, to ask him 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 said alluded to the men getting £26,500 per kilo of the stolen gold.
A jury at Oxford Crown Court today found Michael Jones guilty of burglary and Fred Doe guilty of conspiracy to convert or transfer criminal property. Bora Guccuk, 41, was found not guilty of conspiracy to convert or transfer criminal property.
Sheen had been charged with one count of burglary, one count of conspiring to convert or transfer criminal property, and one count of converting or transferring criminal property earlier this year. His 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 men will be sentenced at a later date.