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Telegraph
a day ago
- Entertainment
- Telegraph
Blenheim Palace replaces stolen gold lavatory with £10 substitute
Blenheim Palace has replaced its stolen golden lavatory with a replica with which visitors can pay £10 to take a selfie. The historic country house, which was the birthplace of Sir Winston Churchill, is planning to put the attraction in the Water Terraces. It comes after the original £4.75 million golden lavatory artwork, named America, was stolen from the Spencer-Churchill's family home back in 2019. Five men broke into the palace using sledgehammers, before ripping out the solid gold lavatory and fleeing in a stolen Volkswagen. The working lavatory, plumbed as part of an exhibition by the Italian artist Maurizio Cattelan, had been on display for just under a week before it was taken. James Sheen, 40, Michael Jones, 39, Fred Doe, 36, and Bora Guccuk, 41, were accused of being part of a gang who planned and carried out the 'bold and brazen' burglary of the Oxfordshire stately home. Sheen was jailed for four years after pleading guilty to burglary and transferring criminal property in 2024, while Jones was found guilty of burglary in March 2025 and sentenced to 27 months. Doe, from Windsor, was convicted of conspiracy to sell the stolen gold and given a 21-month-long suspended sentence in May, while Guccuk, from west London, was cleared of the same charge. The golden lavatory was probably melted down after it was stolen and has not been recovered since. Blenheim Palace said the replica, which has been spray-painted gold and stuck to an old pallet, is 'aimed to be a fun focal point for visitors to sit down for a selfie with a difference.' A spokesman for Blenheim Palace said: 'We take the theft of any property extremely seriously, but with the incredible global interest in the golden toilet theft and the recent court case coming to a conclusion, we thought some light hearted amusement with a budget alternative in our gardens would raise a smile and become an unlikely new stop-off point for visitors to our stunning gardens.'
Telegraph
19-05-2025
- Telegraph
Golden lavatory theft middle man avoids prison
A watch dealer who tried to sell parts of a £4.8 million golden lavatory stolen from Blenheim Palace claimed he had been 'taken advantage of' by a gang of burglars. Frederick Doe, 37, avoided jail on Monday for his part in the heist after a judge handed him a 21-month sentence, suspended for two years. The 18-carat lavatory was snatched in September 2019 by a gang of five men, who smashed their way into the palace before fleeing in a stolen car. One of the criminals, Michael Jones, 39, was convicted of burglary in connection with the crime after a trial in March. The alleged mastermind, James Sheen, 40, pleaded guilty to burglary last year. Doe had helped Sheen try to sell some of the gold in the weeks following the theft after he was 'targeted' by the gang because of his legitimate contacts in the Hatton Garden jewellery district. He had approached a jeweller and arranged for him to value the gold, but the sale collapsed. The jeweller, Bora Guccuk, was acquitted at trial of laundering the stolen goods. At Oxford Crown Court on Monday, judge Ian Pringle KC sentenced Doe to 21 months imprisonment, suspended for two years, and ordered him to do 240 hours of unpaid work. Speaking outside court, Doe said: 'My good nature has been taken advantage of. I got caught up in something I should not have and now I just want to go home and enjoy my family. I am a good person.' He left in a car surrounded by a group of friends, who shouted, 'He is a good person,' and said they would be going for a drink to celebrate. Mr Pringle said the value of the gold Doe was trying to sell was likely to have been around £250,000. None of the gold has been recovered. The judge said: 'A work of art named America was stolen from Blenheim Palace when it was on display there. Those responsible for that audacious heist were all clearly interested in disposing of their ill-gotten gains quickly. 'One of them was James Sheen. He knew you or knew of you through a mutual friend. He clearly also knew you had business connections, entirely legitimate ones, I might add, with Hatton Gardens in London. 'You foolishly agreed to assist him, and I use your words during the trial when asked how you felt about this now and you said 'I feel a fool'. You agreed to assist Mr Sheen without any hope or indeed any expectation of any reward for yourself.' He said Doe, a father of four, was of previous good character and was described as someone whose good nature 'people take advantage of'. The judge took into account several mitigating factors such as his work training underprivileged young athletes, and the fact his wife had recently been diagnosed with cancer. He rejected the suggestion by prosecutor Julian Christopher KC that Doe was one of the main players in the conspiracy. 'You were, at best, a middle man who was targeted by James Sheen as you knew people in Hatton Garden because of your knowledge of valuable watches,' he said. Doe is the son of Maurice Sines, a multi-millionaire caravan park magnate who has been accused by Irish authorities of being an associate of the notorious Kinahan Cartel. He has previously denied having anything to do with the world of organised crime, claiming he was being persecuted just for being friends with the Kinahans. Sheen and fellow burglar Jones are due to be sentenced over their role in the raid next month.
