Man admits stealing 18-carat gold toilet worth £4,800,000 from Blenheim Palace
A man has pleaded guilty to stealing an 18-carat gold toilet from the birthplace of Winston Churchill.
The solid gold – and fully functional -£4.8million toilet was stolen from Blenheim Palace in Oxfordshire in September 2019 while it was on display as part of an art exhibition.
Titled America, the toilet was created by Italian artist Maurizio Cattelan and housed in the country house where Sir Winston Churchill was born.
Its theft caused flooding and damage to the 18th century property as the toilet was plumbed in at the time.
Four men were charged in relation to the theft, but today James ‘Jimmy’ Sheen appeared at Oxford Crown Court where he pleaded guilty.
He admitted burglary, transferring criminal property and conspiracy to do the same, the BBC reports.
Sheen is already serving a 17-year sentence for a number of thefts, including stealing £400,000 worth of tractors and trophies from the National Horse Racing Museum in Newmarket.
Sheen, 39 and from Wellingborough in Northamptonshire, won’t be sentenced until the criminal trial of the other three men is over.
Michael Jones, 38, from Oxford, is accused of burglary, while Frederick Sines, 35, of Ascot, and Bora Guccuk, 40, of London, are both accused of conspiring to transfer criminal property.
They’re set to go on trial on February 24 of next year.
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