A man has admitted stealing a gold toilet worth ￡4.8million from Blenheim Palace.

       The 18-carat toilet was taken in 2019 while featuring in an art exhibition at the ancestral home of Winston Churchill in Oxfordshire.

       James Sheen yesterday pleaded guilty to burglary and transferring criminal property.

       Sheen, 39, of Wellingborough, Northants, is already serving 17 years for thefts, including from cash machines and ￡400,000 of tractors -and trophies from the National Horse Racing Museum in Newmarket.

       He appeared for the hearing at Oxford Crown Court via video link from HMP Five Wells.

       Three other men -have denied charges related to -the theft. They are set to go on trial next year.

       The art installation, which was titled America, was available for visitors to look at and also to sit on.

       It is the work of artist Maurizio Cattelan and was plumbed in at the palace, near the room where Churchill was born.