Imagine you are creating a crack team of thieves to steal a piece of contemporary art from an English palace. You get to be the George Clooney of Ocean's Eleven in this scenario. Who do you want on your team? A tech expert? An acrobat? A safecracker? Maybe someone who can pose convincingly as European nobility?
If you were James Sheen, an English roofer, your first call might be to a plumber. Sheen was recently sentenced to over two years in prison for stealing a $6.4 million golden toilet that was once on display at the Guggenheim. Fellow roofer Michael Jones was also convicted of burglary and sentenced to over two years.
Do You Even Get Contemporary Art?
The purloined toilet was created by Maurizio Cattelan, an artist who became famous for duct-taping a banana to a wall. The banana piece (called "Comedian") sold for $6.2 million in 2024 to a crypto entrepreneur. The sale really was more the right to tape a banana to the wall and call it "Comedian" by Maurizio Cattelan, but let's move on to the toilet.
The toilet piece, entitled "America," (not-so-subtly) poked fun at excessive wealth and consumerism. It was made of gold bullion and worth more than its weight in gold, being insured for 4.7 million pounds. After a short stay at the Guggenheim, it traveled to Blenheim Palace in England, the traditional seat of the Dukes of Marlborough, where it was part of an art exhibit. It was fully functional at the time of the theft.
"Was" is the appropriate tense here, as it appears that Sheen ultimately broke up and melted the piece down for its gold after stealing it from the palace.
No Elaborate Ruses for This Heist
Sheen opted for simplicity when planning the golden toilet heist. After visiting the palace to examine the exhibit, he and four others stole two vehicles, crashed through the wooden gates, and smashed a window near the toilet's location.
They used more blunt force to remove the toilet, taking sledgehammers and a crowbar to pry it from the floor. The whole operation took around five minutes but caused considerable damage to the 18th-century estate.
The evidence against Sheen was notable, with DNA evidence on a sledgehammer abandoned at the scene and gold fragments found in his sweatpants at home. Sheen also sent a relative a photo of the hundreds of thousands of pounds in cash that resulted from the heist. Despite his lack of common sense, for several years it appeared he might get away with it. It took four years before authorities brought charges against him. So far, none of the gold or money has been recovered.
As far as get-rich-quick schemes go, this one was lacking a bit in creativity. Sheen might have tried gluing a kiwi fruit on the wall next to the toilet instead. We hear those can go for millions.
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