Blenheim Palace 2.8 million GBP gold toilet stolen in a few minutes, hear in the yard

The thieves stole a solid gold toilet of 2.8 million pounds from the Blenheim Palace in a “auditory raid”, which lasted only five minutes, heard a court.

The toilet was installed and fully functioning as part of an art exhibition at Oxfordshire Statly Home in September 2019.

Michael Jones, 39, from Divinity Road, Oxford denies an accusation of theft. Frederick Sines, 36 years old, also known as Frederick Doe, Windsor, and Bora Guccuk, 41, western London, have not been guilty of conspiring to transfer the criminal property.

Their process at Oxford Crown Court said that the toilet was most likely separated and was never recovered.

Prosecutor Julian Christopher KC told the court that a five -vehicle gang led through the locked gates of the Blenheim Palace in the early hours of September 14, 2019 and threw it into the building with Sledgehammers.

The court heard that Sledgehammers was left on the spot.

A photo was taken about 17 hours before the toilet was stolen, and Mr. Christopher told the court that Mr. Jones had taken it while he was “there as part of recognition for theft.”

Mr. Christopher told the court that the attack lasted only five minutes.

He added: “The work of art has never been recovered. It seems to have been divided into smaller amounts of gold and never recovered.”

A fourth man, James Sheen, 40 years old, from Welingborough from Northamptonshire, was guilty of burglary, transferring criminal goods and conspiracy to do the same in April 2024, he told jurors.

Entitled America, the 18 carat gold toilet was part of an exhibition of the Italian concept artist Maurizio Cattelan.

He weighed 98 kg and was insured for $ 6 million. The prices of gold at that time would have seen the gold alone worth 2.8 million pounds in September 2019, the court told.

The prosecutor said that a series of messages, vocal notes and screen discovered on Mr. Sheen, Mr. Doe and Mr. Guccuk’s phones showed that the trio negotiated a price of 25,632 pounds per kilogram for about 20 kg of gold stolen.

It was claimed that Mr. Guccuk, who led the Pacha jeweler in London in the Hatton Garden, will make a profit of about 3,000 pounds for every kilo -L sold.

The palace is a UNESCO World Heritage and was Sir Winston Churchill’s birthplace.

The process continues.