£2.8m gold toilet 'America' stolen from UK show at Churchill's birthplace never found

It took just five minutes to steal a £2.8-million gold toilet, which has never been found, from an art exhibition at an English country house, a court heard on Monday.

The fully functioning 18-carat convenience, dubbed "America", was stolen five years ago from Blenheim Palace in Woodstock, near Oxford.

It was one of the star attractions of an exhibition by Italian artist Maurizio Cattelan at the 18th-century stately home, the birthplace of war-time prime minister Winston Churchill and home to the dukes of Marlborough.

Michael Jones, 39, pleaded not guilty in January to stealing the artwork in an overnight raid on September 14, 2019.

Two other defendants, Frederick Sines and Bora Guccuk, each deny one count of conspiracy to transfer criminal property.

A fourth defendant, James Sheen, has previously pleaded guilty to burglary.

Prosecutor Julian Christopher told Oxford Crown Court in southern England that the raid took just five minutes, with sledgehammers left at the scene.

"The gold it was made from was itself worth in the region of £2.8 million ($3.5 million) at the time... and was insured for the sum of $6 million.

"The work of art was never recovered. It appears to have been split up into smaller amounts of gold and never recovered," he added.

Agence France-Presse