Staff at Blenheim Palace were awoken by the sound of breaking glass and a noise which sounded like an exploding boiler as a £4.75 million gold toilet was stolen in a five-minute “audacious raid”, a court has heard.
They were awoken when the fully functioning toilet, which had been installed as an artwork at the Oxfordshire country house where Sir Winston Churchill was born, was stolen in a raid in the early hours of September 14 2019.
On Wednesday jurors sitting at Oxford Crown Court heard from the written statements of witnesses to the break-in.
The solid gold toilet sculpture was reportedly worth £4.75 million (Tom Lindboe/PA)
Night duty manager Abel Clarke, whose room is over the exhibition, almost above the golden toilet, said: “I was woken by the fire alarm sounding. I heard two loud bangs coming from below my room.
He added: “My first thought was that the boiler had exploded.”
He went to see colleague Reza Haghighi, who monitors the CCTV, who told him there are cars outside and “they are breaking in”.
Mr Clarke said he saw headlights facing in his direction but he got only a glimpse of what was happening.
He looked into the courtyard and saw two vehicles, including a truck, were pulling away “at speed”.
The damage caused when thieves stole the 18-carat solid gold toilet (Pete Seaward/Blenheim Palace/PA)
Mr Clarke said: “At one point I was running alongside the pick-up for a few seconds but could not see the person inside.”
Eleanor Paice, the visitor service supervisor and night duty manager, shouted at him to come back.
Ms Paice, who also lives in a flat on the site, said she had been woken up by the the sound of what she thought was a delivery but then realised it could not be and added: “I realised it was smashing glass.”
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 Sines, 36, also known as Frederick Doe, of Winkfield, Windsor, Berkshire, and Bora Guccuk, 41, from west London, each deny one count of conspiracy to transfer criminal property.
It is alleged Doe and Guccuk agreed to help one of the men who carried out the burglary, a defendant called James Sheen, to sell some of the gold in the following weeks.
Jurors were told Sheen, 40, from Wellingborough, Northamptonshire, has previously pleaded guilty to burglary.
Michael Jones, left, Fred Sines, centre, and Bora Guccuk deny the charges against them (Elizabeth Cook/PA)
The toilet, which was created by Italian artist Maurizio Cattelan, was a star attraction in the exhibition and is believed to have been broken up after it was stolen.
The thieves drove through locked wooden gates into the grounds of Blenheim Palace before breaking in through a window, jurors have been told.
“They knew precisely where to go, broke down the wooden door to the cubicle where the toilet was fully plumbed in, removed it, leaving water pouring out of the pipes, and drove away,” prosecutor Julian Christopher KC said previously.
“Clearly such an audacious raid would not have been possible without lots of preparation.”
The trial continues.