Maurizio Cattelan’s notorious gold rest room was stolen from Blenheim Palace, UK, in 2019 in a raid lasting simply 5 minutes, a prosecuting lawyer stated earlier this week on the trial of three males charged with the theft.
Cattelan’s totally functioning 18-carat gold rest room (America, 2016) was faraway from an exhibition of the Italian artist’s work on the 18th-century stately house in September 2019. The bathroom was insured for £4.8m.
Michael Jones, 39, is standing trial at Oxford Crown Court docket charged with one rely of housebreaking, to which he has pleaded not responsible. Fred Doe, 36, and Bora Guccuk, 40, are charged with one rely of conspiracy to transform or switch legal property, particularly gold, which they deny. A fourth man James Sheen, 39, has beforehand pleaded responsible to housebreaking. The trial is predicted to final 4 weeks.
Prosecutor Julian Christopher KC stated: “The housebreaking was rigorously deliberate and swiftly carried out. The boys, 5 of them it seems, drove via locked wood gates into the grounds of Blenheim Palace shortly earlier than 5am in two stolen automobiles, an Isuzu truck and a VW Golf. All in all they spent simply 5 minutes within the constructing. Clearly such an audacious raid wouldn’t have been doable with out a number of preparation.”
In keeping with Christopher, Jones allegedly visited the palace twice within the weeks main as much as the theft, as soon as earlier than the bathroom went on show and as soon as after the piece was put in and totally useful as an exhibit. He added that the bathroom was by no means recovered and seems to have been break up up into smaller quantities of gold. Two of the lads had been utilizing “automotive” as a codeword for the stolen gold and make contact with was made with a Hatton Backyard jeweller, stated Christopher.
Guests to the exhibition needed to ebook time slots to make use of the bathroom which was put in within the guides’ bogs on the palace; the golden lavatory was beforehand on view on the Guggenheim Museum in New York. Cattelan informed The New York Occasions after the theft: “America was the one % for the 99 %, and I hope it nonetheless is. I wish to be constructive and suppose the theft is a type of Robin Hood-inspired motion. I want it was a prank.”
