On Monday 24 February 2025, three men appeared in an English court, facing charges linked to the audacious theft of an 18-carat gold toilet that was part of an art exhibition at Winston Churchill’s birthplace.

The golden toilet, titled America was created by Italian artist Maurizio Cattelan. It was stolen from Blenheim Palace in southern England—a renowned UNESCO World Heritage Site and major tourist attraction, best known as the birthplace of Sir Winston Churchill. 

Prosecutor Julian Christopher told the court that a gang of five men used two stolen vehicles to ram through locked wooden gates before dawn on September 14, 2019. They allegedly broke into the palace through a window, smashed down a wooden door, and wrenched the toilet from the plumbing before fleeing within five minutes.

The toilet, weighing almost 100 kilograms (216 pounds), was insured for $6 million (£4,744,200). Prosecutors believe it was likely melted down and sold in smaller quantities of gold.

Now Michael Jones, 39, is being tried at Oxford Crown Court for burglary. 

According to the prosecution’s data, Jones visited the site with his partner, Carly Jones, five days before the exhibition’s opening, in one of two “reconnaissance visits,” as the court was presented with. 

The jurors were provided with the CCTV footage of the burglary scene. 

The co-defendants in the case Fred Doe, 36, and Bora Guccuk, 40, were charged with conspiracy to “convert or transfer criminal property”, which means prosecutors claim they could take part in selling the gold material extracted from the destroyed sculpture. 

A fourth suspect, James Sheen, 39, has already pleaded guilty to burglary.

According to the prosecution the thieves used the word “car” as code for the stolen object in conversation with a Hatton Garden jeweller who could take part in the action. 

The trial is expected to last four weeks.

Source: Reuters

Photo: @owenbroadcast

Tomasz Modrzejewski