The BG is, despite the claims by it’s many critics and detractors, a blog that addresses serious issues and not trivia. For trivia BG Readers have a surfeit of choice; the tabloid media and “social media”. There is therefore no need to add to it!
However sometimes a report comes along which appears to be very much in the trivia category but is not. I’ll give the BG comment upon the story, but first, herewith a copy and paste of the text of the report of the theft of a gold toilet from the Daily Mail by their reporter John James from yesterday 29th August 2023:
“The 18-carat gold toilet designed as part of an exhibition by Italian artist Maurizio Cattelan was taken in a raid at the Oxfordshire stately home on September 14 2019 – just a day after it had been unveiled. And despite four years passing and police arresting seven suspects in that time, investigators are still yet to formally charge anyone in connection with the burglary. However police have reportedly now sent files over to prosecutors raising the chances of charges being applied, according to the Sun. It is up to the Crown Prosecution Service to now decide whether to charge any of the seven suspects – six men aged 36 to 68 and a woman, 38 – previously arrested. The statement toilet, valued at £4.8million and entitled ‘America’ by its artist Maurizio Cattelan, was fitted in at the Guggenheim Museum in New York in 2016 and 100,000 people queued to use it. It was moved to Blenheim and into a chamber opposite the room where Winston Churchill was born for Cattelan’s first solo UK show in more than 20 years. Speaking at the time of the theft, artist Cattelan said he hoped the theft was a prank and asked ‘who’s so stupid to steal a toilet? [The work titled] America was the one per cent for the 99 per cent’. The palace’s chief executive Dominic Hare said he hoped the ‘pointless’ act of stealing would ‘immortalise’ the work and defended the home’s ‘sophisticated security system’ at the time it went missing. The thieves ripped the expensive appliance from the fittings and made off with it. It is thought that the loo was melted down following the theft and used to create jewellery. A Thames Valley Police spokesman said: ‘A number of individuals remain released under investigation in relation to this case. ‘A file of evidence is with the CPS for a decision to be made on any charges.’ A CPS spokesperson said: ‘We have received a full file of evidence from Thames Valley Police following an investigation in relation to this case and are considering the material in line with our legal test.’ Police investigators are hopeful that they will finally be able to charge suspects implicated in the grand theft of a £5million gold toilet stolen from Blenheim Palace.”
BG Comment: Normally, the theft of an article valued at £4.8 million is a serious offence and the police quite rightly devote resources to apprehending the miscreants. Ask the specialist solicitors and barristers (US – attorneys) and they will tell you that one of the things about criminal defence work is that it is never boring! Furthermore there are invariably aggravating and/or mitigating circumstances in most cases.
The Daily Mail’s report clearly has both. The aggravating aspect is of course the value – £4.8 million and the criminal damage occasioned by the removal of the item. The mitigating aspect is the lack of violence. This is to view the theft from the narrow perspective of the CPS and Thames Valley Police.
There is a broader perspective however: In this world there is a vast gulf between the richest and the poorest. Ironically this was exactly why Mr Maurizio Cattelan created the work in the first place. As a grotesque critique upon the extravagance of some of the ultra rich and the desperate crushing poverty endured by some of the poorest people on Earth – such as the children mining the cobalt in the Congo so the wealthy can drive 200mph+ battery cars!
Of course it is likely that the toilet’s thieves will not have stolen the toilet in order to donate the money from the gold they fenced to such as charities helping those desperate Congolese children. It is far more likely that they will have trousered the cash for their own enrichment!
Notwithstanding this however it is hard to feel much in the way of righteous anger towards these miscreants. However, I doubt very much if Thames Valley Police do make arrests and charges are brought by the CPS and they are convicted that the Criminal Justice System in England and Wales will be anything less than very harsh upon them. This because the aggravating factor of the value of this outrageous example of extravagance will outweigh any possible mitigating factors. Furthermore, upon a conviction, the draconian (and excessive) Proceeds of Crime Act will apply where the assets of the convicted will be seized to compensate the police – not the victim – the owners of the item and the owners of Blenheim Palace.
All in all this whole report is a tale that so well describes the atrocious difference in human conditions and happiness (and lack of!).
If convicted, the one thing the miscreants can count upon is that they will all have a fairly smooth time in prison. This because there is a hierarchy in prison with those such as the miscreants – the theft of a hugely valuable artefact with no violence – will earn them the admiration and respect of their fellow prisoners whilst those such as Lucy Letby will spend their entire sentence in fear (wholly justified) of a violent retribution for the crimes she has been convicted of. Unlike Lucy Letby there will be no need for these miscreants to be forever looking over their shoulders and not being able to mix freely with the other prisoners.