Four Men Arrested For Stealing 4.7Billion Naira Gold Toilet From Blenheim Palace
Four men have been charged in connection with the theft of a gold toilet worth £4.8m from Blenheim Palace in 2019, the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) announced on Monday.
The toilet, titled America, was a functional art installation by the Italian conceptual artist Maurizio Cattelan, who described it as “the 1% for the 99%”. It had been on display at the Oxfordshire palace, the birthplace of Winston Churchill, for only two days when it was stolen in an overnight raid on 14 September 2019.
The theft caused significant damage and flooding to the 18th-century stately home and Unesco world heritage site in Woodstock, as the toilet was plumbed in at the time. It has not been recovered since.
The toilet had previously been installed at the Guggenheim Museum in New York, where 100,000 people queued to use it. It was moved to Blenheim and placed in a chamber opposite the room where Churchill was born, for Cattelan’s first solo UK show in more than 20 years.
The four men charged are James Sheen, 39, of Wellingborough, Northamptonshire; Michael Jones, 38, from Oxford; Fred Doe, 35, from Ascot, Berkshire; and Bora Guccuk, 39, from west London.
Sheen is accused of one count of burglary, one count of conspiracy to transfer criminal property and one count of transferring criminal property. Jones is charged with one count of burglary, while Doe and Guccuk are each charged with one count of conspiracy to transfer criminal property.
They are due to appear at Oxford magistrates court on 28 November.
Senior crown prosecutor Shan Saunders from the CPS said: “The Crown Prosecution Service has authorised charges in relation to the theft of a gold toilet from Blenheim Palace in 2019. Criminal proceedings against James Sheen, Michael Jones, Fred Doe and Bora Guccuk are now active and they each have the right to a fair trial.
“It is extremely important that there should be no reporting, commentary or sharing of information online which could in any way prejudice these proceedings.”
The gold toilet was part of an exhibition by Cattelan, who is known for his provocative and satirical works, such as a sculpture of Pope John Paul II being hit by a meteorite and a wax figure of Hitler kneeling in prayer.
Cattelan said he hoped the theft was a prank and asked: “Who’s so stupid to steal a toilet?” He also said it was ironic that the work “portraying the American dream” and the elite object made available to all was “instantly snatched away and hidden from view”.
Blenheim Palace is the ancestral seat of the Duke of Marlborough. Before the toilet’s installation, the duke’s half-brother, Edward Spencer-Churchill, founder of the Blenheim Art Foundation, said the lavatory would not be “the easiest thing to nick”. He told the Times: “Firstly, it’s plumbed in; and secondly, a potential thief will have no idea who last used the toilet or what they ate. So no, I don’t plan to be guarding it.”
Dominic Hare, the chief executive of Blenheim Palace, said at the time he hoped the “pointless” act of stealing would immortalise the work. He added that it was deeply ironic for the work “portraying the American dream” and the elite object made available to all was “instantly snatched away and hidden from view”.
