Five cleared of da Vinci plot

Five men, including three solicitors, were yesterday cleared of a plot to extort £4.25 million ($9.2 million) for the return of a Leonardo da Vinci painting stolen by axe-wielding robbers from a Scottish castle.

The Madonna of the Yarnwinder, completed by Leonardo in about 1501 and thought to be one of just 20 paintings by the Italian master still in existence, was snatched from the ancestral home of the Duke of Buccleuch in 2003 and was missing until 2007, when it was recovered by police in Glasgow.

A jury at the High Court in Edinburgh dismissed the prosecution case that the return of the £20 million painting had been part of an elaborate plan by the defendants to make their fortunes by acting as middlemen for the holders of the artwork and extracting a multimillion-pound ransom to ensure it was sent back to its aristocratic owners.

The case against solicitor Marshall Ronald, 53, and private investigators Robert Graham, 57, and John Doyle, 61, was found to be not proven under the Scottish legal system. Glasgow solicitors Calum Jones, 45, and David Boyce, 63, were found not guilty.

The men, who were not accused of involvement in the robbery, were arrested after an undercover police investigation involving officers disguised as art experts and a representative of the Duke. The painting was taken from his home at Drumlanrig Castle by two robbers posing as tourists who claimed to be plainclothes detectives conducting a test.

Graham and Doyle, who set up a company called Stolen Stuff Reunited, claimed they had been approached in July 2007 by representatives of unknown individuals holding the painting, who wanted £700,000 to release it. The private eyes contacted their lawyer, Ronald, to find out if there was a reward for the return of the painting.

Ronald in turn sought advice on issues of Scottish law from Jones and Boyce and then contacted an insurance-company loss adjuster stating that he wanted to "negotiate the safe repatriation of the painting and negotiate the reward/finder's fee on behalf of our clients".

- Independent