Notorious thief admits stealing solid gold toilet worth £4.8million from Blenheim Palace in daring smash-and-grab raid

A NOTORIOUS thief has admitted stealing a solid gold toilet worth £4.8million from Blenheim Palace.

James "Jimmy" Sheen swiped the 18-carat loo just two days after it was installed at Sir Winston Churchill's former Oxfordshire home.

The thief, 39, today pleaded guilty to burglary, conspiracy to transfer criminal property and transferring criminal property.

Sheen masterminded the robbery of the toilet, which was made by Italian artist Maurizio Cattelan.

It had been loaned to the Palace in 2019 after previously appearing at the Solomon R Guggenheim Museum in New York.

Visitors were able to use the fully-functional loo - once offered to Donald Trump - in three-minute slots.

But just two days later, it disappeared from a bathroom after a smash-and-grab raid.

Sheen was previously locked up for 17 years for a string of audacious lockdown burglaries across the UK.

These included blowing up 18 ATMs using gas and stealing £400,000 worth of tractors in one night.

Sheen's gang also raided the National Horseracing Museum in Newmarket - swiping trophies and the £75,000 Ascot Gold Vase.

The career criminal made £903,000 in ill-gotten gains as he terrorised the country.

Three other men are due to stand trial in relation to the toilet theft in February next year.

Judge Michael Gledhill KC adjourned sentencing Sheen until the others go on trial.

Blenheim Palace, the residence of the Dukes of Marlborough, is a country house located Near Woodstock, in Oxfordshire.

The palace, one of England's largest houses, was built between 1705 and circa 1722 and was designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1987.

Following the palace's completion, it became the home of the Churchill family for the next 300 years.

It is also notable as the birthplace and ancestral home of Sir Winston Churchill.