A TRIAL date has been set for men accused of stealing a £4.8 million gold toilet from Blenheim Palace.

Michael Jones, 38, of Clarks Row, Oxford, and James Sheen, 39, of Warren Crescent, Oxford, are accused of burgling the 18-carat art installation in an overnight raid in the early hours of September 14, 2019.

Sheen is also charged with transferring criminal property.

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Sheen, Frederick Does (formerly Sines), 35, of North Street, Winfield, Windsor, and Bora Guccuk, 39, from west London, are also charged with one count of conspiracy to transfer criminal property.

The four appeared at Oxford Crown Court on Friday (January 19) for a plea and trial preparation hearing.

Sheen and Jones pleaded not guilty to one count of burglary between September 1, 2019 and September 15, 2019.

The duo also pleaded not guilty to conspiracy to transfer criminal property between September 1, 2019 and September 30, 2019, along with Doe who also pleaded not guilty.

Sheen pleaded not guilty to a third count of transporting criminal property on September 27 from Birmingham.

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However, Guccuk was not asked to enter a plea at this hearing.

A trial date has now been set for the other three defendants and is due to take place at the same court on 24 February next year.

It was heard that the trial could take four to six weeks.

The £4.8m solid gold toilet was installed in September 2019. The 18-carat art installation was available for visitors to look at and sit on.

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

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The Italians’ art installation entitled ‘America’ attracted more than 100,000 people when shown at New York's Guggenheim Museum in 2016, with cleaners allegedly nipping in every 15 minutes to keep it pristine.