Thieves who took off with a $6.06 million (£4.8 million) gold toilet at Blenheim Palace executed their daring heist in just five minutes, a UK court heard on Monday (Feb 24).

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The fully functional artwork was made of 18-carat gold and is yet to be recovered. It is believed to have been dismantled and disposed of. Five men stand accused of stealing the 18-carat gold toilet, titled America, which was created by Italian artist Maurizio Cattelan.

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The heist

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The golden toilet, linked to the career of US President Donald Trump by the Guggenheim Museum, had only recently been installed as an art exhibit at the Oxfordshire stately home in September 2019 when it was stolen.

Oxford Crown Court heard on Monday that the burglary was a meticulously planned operation that required extensive preparation. 

Julian Christopher KC, prosecuting, described the crime as a “carefully planned” theft that “would not have been possible without lots of preparation”.

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“The burglary was carefully planned and swiftly carried out.”

“The men, five of them it appears, drove through locked wooden gates into the grounds of Blenheim Palace shortly before 5 am in two stolen vehicles, an Isuzu truck and a VW Golf.”

“They drove across a field, up to the front steps and smashed and broke in through a window.”

“They knew precisely where to go, broke down the wooden door to the cubicle where the toilet was fully plumbed in, removed it, leaving water pouring out of the pipes, and drove away...All in all, they spent just five minutes in the building,” he said.

The court was told that sledgehammers were abandoned at the scene. 

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Who stole the ‘Golden Lavatory’?

Michael Jones, 39, from Oxford, Frederick Sines, 36, also known as Frederick Doe, from Winkfield, Windsor, Berkshire, and Bora Guccuk, 41 are accused of stealing the artwork. Another man James Sheen has also been named in connection to the heist.

Jones, when he entered his plea in January, denied stealing the artwork in an overnight raid in the early hours of September 14, 2019. 

Sines and Guccuk have also denied charges of conspiracy to transfer criminal property. 

The prosecution however alleges that Jones had taken a photograph of the artwork the day before “as part of the reconnaissance for the burglary”.

Christopher remarked, “The work of art was never recovered. It appears to have been split up into smaller amounts of gold and never recovered.”

It is alleged that Sines and Guccuk conspired with one of the burglars—James Sheen—to offload some stolen gold in the weeks following the crime.

Jurors heard that a fourth defendant, Sheen, 40, from Wellingborough, Northamptonshire, in April 2024 pleaded guilty to burglary, conspiracy to transfer criminal property, and one count of transferring criminal property at Oxford Crown Court.

(With inputs from agencies)