Two men have been found guilty of stealing a fully-functioning £4.75 million 18-carat gold toilet from Blenheim Palace.
Michael Jones, 39, stole the toilet at the Oxfordshire country house where Sir Winston Churchill was born in the early hours of September 14, 2019.
The day before the theft, Jones also revealed he ‘took advantage of’ the gold toilet’s ‘facilities’ while at the country house.
Asked what it was like, Jones said: ‘Splendid.’
He visited the palace twice before the theft but had denied these were reconnaissance trips.
Frederick Doe, 36, also known as Frederick Sines, of Winkfield, Windsor, Berkshire, was found guilty of conspiracy to transfer criminal property.
Doe helped one of the men who pleaded guilty to carrying out the burglary, James Sheen, to sell some of the gold in the following weeks.
Sheen, 40, from Wellingborough, Northamptonshire, had already pleaded guilty to burglary.
He also pleaded guilty to conspiracy to transfer criminal property and one count of transferring criminal property, at Oxford Crown Court in April 2024.
Jones had worked as a roofer and builder for Sheen from about 2018 and was effectively Sheen’s ‘right-hand man’.
The toilet was created by Italian artist Maurizio Cattelan and was a star attraction in an art exhibition when it was stolen.
Bora Guccuk, 41, from west London, was found not guilty of the same charge.
Doe will be sentenced on May 19. Jones and Sheen will be sentenced at a date yet to be set.
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Shan Saunders, of the Crown Prosecution Service, said: ‘This was an audacious raid which had been carefully planned and executed – but those responsible were not careful enough, leaving a trail of evidence in the form of forensics, CCTV footage and phone data.
‘It has been a complex case to prosecute, involving a nationwide investigation with many lines of inquiry to identify those who were subsequently charged in relation to the theft.
‘While none of the gold was ever recovered – no doubt having been broken up or melted down and sold on soon after it was stolen – we are confident this prosecution has played a part in disrupting a wider crime and money laundering network.’
Thames Valley Police said other people were involved in the burglary at Blenheim Palace and called for anyone with information to come forward.
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