Two men have been jailed for their roles in the theft of a £4.75m gold toilet from Blenheim Palace.
James Sheen, 40, and Michael Jones, 39, were part of the gang who planned and carried out the burglary of the Oxfordshire stately home.
Sheen, 40, a roofer who pleaded guilty to burglary, conspiracy and transferring criminal property, was sentenced at Oxford Crown Court to four years in prison.
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.
Michael Jones, 39, who worked for Sheen and was convicted of burglary at trial, was sentenced to two years and three months.
The fully functioning 18-carat gold artwork, titled America, was stolen from Blenheim Palace in September 2019.
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.
A ‘bold and brazen heist’
Passing sentence, Judge Ian Pringle KC said the “bold and brazen heist took no more than five-and-a-half minutes to complete”.
The judge said he has “no doubt” that Sheen’s sentence must be consecutive to the one he is already serving.
Judge Pringle said he could not be sure that Jones was part of the gang that carried out the burglary, but had “no doubt” that his 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”.
Last month, Frederick Doe, 36, was handed a two-year suspended sentence after he was found guilty of conspiracy to convert or transfer criminal property.
Jewellery shop owner Bora Guccuk, 41, from west London, was acquitted of conspiracy to transfer criminal property.
How the theft unfolded
During court proceedings, Prosecutor Julian Christopher KC said five men carried out the raid; however, only Jones and Sheen have been caught.
Sheen and his accomplices drove two stolen vehicles, a VW Golf and an Isuzu truck, through locked gates at Blenheim Palace shortly before 5am on the night of the raid.
Thames Valley Police said three men armed with sledgehammers and a crowbar gained entry to the palace, smashed through the solid wooden door and tore the toilet from its fixings.
The gold was believed to be worth about £2.8m at the time of the theft. However, it had been insured for the price of £4.75m.
A couple of days after the burglary, Sheen contacted Doe about selling the gold.
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Through coded messages, the two men talked about “cars” and getting offered “26 and a half” – which the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) argued referred to the men getting £26,500 per kilo of the stolen gold.
Jones, who had visited the stately home twice in the days before the raid, was arrested on 16 October 2019 before officers analysed his phone.
The force found he had searched for news reports about the stolen toilet on 20 September 2019.
He also told the jury he took advantage of the artwork’s “facilities” the day before it was taken. When asked what it was like, Jones replied: “Splendid.”
Meanwhile, Sheen’s DNA was found both on a sledgehammer left at the scene and in one of the stolen trucks used in the raid.
