Gold toilet gang members to be sentenced in June

A sentencing date has been set for two of the gang members convicted over the theft of a £4.8m gold toilet from an art exhibition at Blenheim Palace.

Thieves smashed their way in and ripped out the functional toilet, hours after a glamorous launch party at the Oxfordshire stately home in September 2019.

Michael Jones, who was found guilty of planning the burglary, and James Sheen, who previously admitted stealing the toilet, will be sentenced on 13 June at Oxford Crown Court.

Fred Doe, who a jury convicted of conspiring to sell the gold, will be sentenced in May.

In a short hearing at Oxford Crown Court earlier, Judge Ian Pringle KC set the date for Jones and Sheen, which he remarked fell on the "ominous" Friday the 13th.

Five men were seen on CCTV carrying out the heist, but only two - Sheen and Jones - have ever been caught.

Within days the artwork, called America, had been broken up and sold on. None of the gold has been recovered.

Sheen, 40, from Oxford, pleaded guilty to burglary and transferring criminal property in 2024, while Jones, 39, from Oxford, was found guilty of burglary at a trial last month.

Doe, 36, from Windsor, was convicted of conspiracy to transfer criminal property. Bora Guccuk, 41, from west London, was cleared of the same charge.

Following the trial, the BBC revealed the full criminal history of the heist gang's kingpin Sheen.

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