Three suspected art thieves from Lancashire have appeared in court, charged with the theft of a £40 million Leonardo da Vinci masterpiece.
The Madonna Of The Yarnwinder was stolen almost seven years ago from the walls of Drumlanrig Castle, in Dumfries, Scotland, in August of 2003.
The three men, from Aughton, Ormskirk and Skelmersdale, join a Scottish pair on trial charged with the theft of the painting. It is alleged they planned to demand more than £4 million from the artwork's owner, the Duke of Buccleuch, for its safe return.
Robert Graham, 57, from Aughton, John Doyle, 61, from Ormskirk, and Skelmersdale solicitor Marshall Ronald, 53, are accused of threatening the Duke and his family that the painting would be irreparably damaged if the ransom was not duly paid.
At the trial at Edinburgh's High Court, which began on March 1, the jury heard how 25-year-old tour guide Alison Renwick was left "shocked" after being forced to the ground by a mystery assailant.
She told the jury that the painting was stolen by her attacker's accomplice, before the two men escaped through a window. One of the men was carrying an axe.
Ms Renwick said: "He came from behind and put his hand over my mouth. He told me I had to lie down on the ground or he would kill me.
"I lay on the ground and could hear them remove the painting from the wall, before leaving with the artwork."
Ms Renwick's elderly colleague, tour guide Sarah Skene, 73, told the jury she became quickly aware of an incident in the next room. She told the court that she could hear a colleague pleading with the thieves, and approached the room to find a man "guarding the painting with an axe in his hand".
The prosecution allege that 53-year-old Marshall Ronald had contacted the Duke's insurers to bargain for the painting's safe return. However, he is accused of threatening the family that "volatile individuals" would become involved in the case, if the police were contacted.
The trial continues in Glasgow, and is likely to last up to six weeks.
--
Follow this author on Twitter, http://twitter.com/sibo_
Post a comment