Jury now considers verdicts into the theft of a golden toilet
The trial has lasted just over four weeks
A jury at Oxford Crown Court has started their deliberations into the case of a golden toilet stolen from Blenheim Palace thought to be worth around £4.8 million.
The toilet, an artwork by Italian artist Maurizio Cattelan entitled America, was a star attraction in an exhibition when it was stolen during a five-minute "audacious heist" by sledgehammer-wielding thieves who smashed their way in.
Judge Ian Pringle KC started his summary of the case by saying, “this is not a bog-standard burglary, it was an audacious heist”.
Michael Jones, 39, from Oxford, pleaded not guilty in January to stealing artwork in an overnight raid in the early hours of September 14, 2019.
Frederick Doe, 36, of Ascot, Berkshire, and Bora Guccuk, 41, from west London, each deny one count of conspiracy to transfer criminal property.
A fourth man, James Sheen from Wellingborough, Northamptonshire, has pleaded guilty to an offence of transferring or converting gold and has admitted taking part in the burglary.
Throughout the four-week trial, jurors have heard evidence from prosecution and defence, as well as a number of experts to help the case.
The court has been shown CCTV footage of the moment thieves armed with sledgehammers and a crowbar raided Blenheim Palace, after driving through locked wooden gates and breaking in through a window.
Just five minutes later, the video also shows the thieves rolling the gold toilet and bundled it into the back of a blue VW Golf, causing the car's suspension to sag under the 98kg weight.
Five days before the art exhibition opened at the Oxfordshire palace, Jones visited with his former partner on what prosecutors have described as the first of two reconnaissance visits.
The jury have been shown photographs that Jones took of the golden toilet, the lock on the door and a window.
When cross-examined and asked by prosecution why he took a photograph of the window, he says “there was a nice view”.
In court, also Jones said he did not participate in the burglary, saying “I was in bed, and in bed alone”.
During the trial, jurors also heard evidence from Doe, that James Sheen told him in a message he was stressed trying to sell the gold - which Doe said he did not know was from the Blenheim Palace toilet.
The married father-of-four also told Sheen he could "sell the gold in a second", the court heard.
Doe previously told jurors he had "never had any indication at any time that the gold was stolen" and would have "never in a million years" helped sell stolen gold.
The court heard on Tuesday the pair arranged to meet on September 23 2019 in Hatton Garden to see the owner of Pacha of London Jewellery, Bora Guccuk.
Doe told jurors he never looked inside the bag and did not see the gold in person.
"Not at any given time," he said.
He estimated the three of them were in the jewellery shop for about three to four minutes before they walked out.
But by September 26, 2019, Sheen had not received any money from Guccuk, and the deal between them collapsed before the five kilos of gold were handed back to Sheen, Doe told the court.
The trial continues.
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