A man has admitted to taking an 18-carat gold toilet from where Winston Churchill was born.
The solid gold – and functioning – £4.8million toilet was taken from Blenheim Palace in Oxfordshire in September 2019 while it was being shown as part of an art exhibition.
Titled America, the toilet was made by Italian artist Maurizio Cattelan and placed in the country house where Sir Winston Churchill was born.
Its theft led to flooding and harm to the 18th century property as the toilet was connected to the plumbing at the time.
Four men were charged in connection to the theft, but today James ‘Jimmy’ Sheen appeared at Oxford Crown Court where he admitted guilt.
He confessed to burglary, transferring criminal property and conspiring to do the same, the BBC reports.
Sheen is already serving a 17-year sentence for a number of thefts, including stealing £400,000 worth of tractors and trophies from the National Horse Racing Museum in Newmarket.
Sheen, 39 and from Wellingborough in Northamptonshire, won’t be sentenced until the criminal trial of the other three men is over.
Michael Jones, 38, from Oxford, is accused of burglary, while Frederick Sines, 35, of Ascot, and Bora Guccuk, 40, of London, are both accused of conspiring to transfer criminal property.
They’re set to go on trial on February 24 of next year.
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