Three men accused over the theft of a £4.8 million gold toilet from Blenheim Palace have appeared in court for the first time.
Michael Jones, 38, from Oxford, Fred Doe, 35, from Ascot, Berkshire, and Bora Guccuk, 39, who lives in west London, appeared in the dock at Oxford magistrates court on Tuesday afternoon for a three-minute hearing.
They all face charges related to the disappearance of the toilet art installation in an alleged raid in September 2019.
The toilet was fully functioning and had been placed at the Oxfordshire Palace – the birthplace of Sir Winston Churchill – as an art installation.
A fourth defendant, James Sheen, 39, from Wellingborough in Northamptonshire, was not in the dock for the court hearing.
The court was told Jones is accused with Sheen of carrying out the actual burglary of the gold toilet.
Magistrates released the three defendants who appeared in court on unconditional bail until a plea hearing at Oxford crown court on January 4 next year.
All four defendants are expected to appear at the next court hearing.
Sheen is accused of one count of burglary, one count of conspiracy to transfer criminal property and one count of transferring criminal property.
Jones has been charged with one count of burglary, while Doe and Guccuk are both accused of conspiracy to transfer criminal property.
No pleas were entered at court.
The toilet had been fitted at the Guggenheim Museum in New York prior to its move to Blenheim Palace, the ancestral home of the Duke of Marlborough.
