Two men have been jailed for their roles in the theft of a £4.75 million gold toilet from Blenheim Palace.
A gang of thieves smashed their way in to the palace and ripped out the fully-functioning 18-carat gold toilet during a raid in 2019.
James Sheen, 40, and Michael Jones, 39, were part of the gang who planned and carried out the burglary of the Oxfordshire stately home.
The 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 raid by sledgehammer-wielding thieves, 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 kilograms, was insured for six million US dollars (£4.75 million) and was made from gold which was itself worth about £2.8 million.
Sheen, of Wellingborough, Northamptonshire had previously admitted burglary, conspiracy to transfer criminal property and one count of transferring criminal property.
Jones, of Oxford, was found guilty of burglary following a trial.
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.”
Sheen was jailed for four years and his sentence will run consecutively to the 19 years and four-month sentence he is currently serving for attacks on cash machines, a museum burglary and fraud.
“You were part of the gang of five men who smashed their way into Blenheim Palace that night and stole the hugely valuable golden toilet,” the judge said.
“You were almost certainly the figure that carried the sledgehammer on which your DNA was found and which was used to sever the functioning toilet from its connecting pipes.
“I say straight away I have no doubt at all that the sentence I pass must be consecutive to the sentence you are currently serving.
“Not to do so would be to send out a message that you did this without any penalty at all.”
Judge Pringle jailed Jones for 27 months after concluding he could not be sure he was part of the gang that carried out the burglary.
“You paid visits on two occasions to Blenheim Palace in the days leading up to the burglary,” he said.
“That your role was to carry out a reconnaissance of the museum, to know exactly where the golden toilet was situated and to work out the quickest route in and out of the palace, I have absolutely no doubt whatsoever.
“Although you have no witnesses to where you were on the night in question, I cannot be sure that you were part of the group of burglars who broke into the palace that night.”
