After a trial lasting several weeks, two men have now been found guilty of planning an audacious burglary on Blenheim Palace in 2019, in which a solid gold toilet was stolen from the stately home.
Michael Jones, 39, from Oxford, denied one count of burglary, but was pronounced guilty today by the jury.
Fred Doe, 36, from Windsor, was also found guilty of conspiracy to transfer criminal property. Bora Guccuk, 41, a jeweller from West London, was found not guilty of the same charge.
A fourth man, James Sheen, 40, from Oxford, previously pleaded guilty to burglary and transferring or converting gold before the trial even began.
The toilet was part of an exhibition by artist Maurizio Cattelan being held at the Oxfordshire home of the Duke of Marlborough. The piece of art, entitled “America”, was the show’s centrepiece before it was ripped from a wood-panelled room and stolen from the property.
CCTV footage shown to the court captured a group of five thieves breaking into the palace with sledgehammers, before they made their getaway in two vehicles.
At the beginning of the trial last month, jurors heard how the solid gold toilet – which was estimated to be worth several million pounds – was likely ‘split up into smaller amounts of gold’ afterwards, and will now never be recovered.
During a cross examination, Jones admitted to visiting Blenheim Palace on two separate occasions prior to the burglary. When pressed for more details by the prosecution, he confessed to booking a slot to actually use the toilet at the centre of the trial – an experienced he described as “splendid”.
Presiding over the trial, Judge Pringle told the jury ahead of deliberations: “This was not a bog standard burglary – it was an audacious heist on one of the most famous palaces in this country. It was a bold and brazen burglary, with great rewards for anyone who got away with it.”
Shan Saunders, from the Crown Prosecution Service, commented that the crime was: “an audacious raid which had been carefully planned and executed. But those responsible were not careful enough, leaving a trail of evidence.”
Jones, Sheen and Doe are all scheduled to be sentenced later on this year.
