Wellingborough man jailed for theft of £4.8m golden toilet from Blenheim Palace
The Wellingborough man who masterminded the theft of a £4.8m golden toilet from a palace has been jailed.
James 'Jimmy' Sheen, 40, had pleaded guilty to burglary, conspiracy to transfer criminal property, and transferring criminal property at an earlier hearing on May 19.
Sheen was before Oxford Crown Court on Friday (June 13) and was jailed to four years in prison.
Fellow gang member Michael Jones, 39, of Oxford was handed a two-and-a-half year prison term.
Another man, Fred Doe, aged 36, of Ascot, was not involved in the burglary itself, but had contacted Sheen in the days after the burglary, offering to find a buyer for the gold that Sheen had obtained.
Fred Doe was sentenced at Oxford Crown Court on May 19 to 21 months suspended for two years.
The £4.8m solid gold toilet had been part of an art exhibition at Blenheim Palace and after the theft, the 98kg (216lbs) metal bowl was melted down.
Thieves smashed their way in and ripped out the functional 18-carat, solid gold toilet hours after a glamorous launch party at the Oxfordshire stately home in September 2019.
The 18-carat solid gold loo had only been on show as part of the exhibition for two days when it was stolen in September 2019.
Those who wanted to use the special lavatory had a three-minute time limit to prevent queues from forming.
It was plumbed in when it was stolen which meant the palace suffered from flooding and damage.
The fully functioning toilet, titled ‘America’, was created by Italian artist Maurizio Cattelan and housed in the Oxfordshire country house where Sir Winston Churchill was born.
Sheen is already serving a 17-year sentence for a string of thefts including £400,000-worth of tractors and high-value trophies from the National Horse Racing Museum in Newmarket.