19 January 2024 , 16:25
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Three men accused of stealing a golden toilet art exhibit worth £4.8 million from historic Blenheim Palace will wait more than a year to go on trial accused of the theft.
James Sheen, Michael Jones and Frederick Doe, all aged in their 30s, appeared at Oxford Crown Court today accused of stealing the newly-installed item from the famed stately home in Oxfordshire four years ago. Created by artist Maurizio Cattelan, the lavish loo was on display as part of an exhibition titled "America".
The art was designed to represent the country's wealth and excess and was installed at Winston Churchill's birthplace. At around 5am on September 14, 2019, thieves broke into the palace and ripped out the golden piece, which was fully plumbed in, from the floor.
left or right: Michael Jones, Fred Sines and Bora Guccuk as four men have been charged over the theft of a gold toilet from Blenheim Palace. (PA)At the hearing, 39-year-old Sheen, of Wellingborough, Northamptonshire, denied one count of burglary, one count of conspiracy to transfer criminal property and one count of converting or transferring criminal property.
Jones, 38, of Oxford, also denied one count of burglary. Frederick Doe, 35, from Ascot, Berkshire, denied one count of conspiracy to transfer criminal property. He has changed his surname from Sines to Doe. The court also heard that a fourth defendant Bora Guccuk, 39, had submitted a written application to dismiss the charges in his case.
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Guccuk, of west London, who had been charged with one count of conspiracy to transfer criminal property, was consequently not arraigned. A trial date was set for February 24, 2025, for Sheen, Jones and Doe. The palace, located in Blenheim near Woodstock, Oxfordshire, was constructed as a gift to the first Duke of Marlborough, John Churchill, from Queen Anne as thanks for victory in the Battle of Blenheim on August 13, 1704.