Stolen: The Madonna of the Yarnwinder was taken during a daylight robberyOne of Scotland's richest landowners was warned 'something very silly' would happen to a priceless Leonardo da Vinci artwork stolen from his estate unless he paid a £4.25 million ransom, a court has heard.
The Duke of Buccleuch received threatening emails and telephone calls from a gang of alleged extortionists telling him not to involve the police or 'volatile people' may damage or destroy his precious Da Vinci masterpiece, the Madonna of the Yarnwinder.
The world famous painting was stolen seven years ago by a ruthless gang of robbers - one wielding an axe - in a daring daylight robbery from the duke's family seat, Drumlanrig Castle, in Dumfriesshire.
Yesterday, a trial at the High Court in Edinburgh of five men accused of plotting to extort millions from the Buccleuch family and their insurers for the 500-year-old painting's safe return began with a dramatic account of the theft.
Tour guide Alison Russell described how one robber clamped a hand over her mouth and told her to lie down and keep quiet or she would be killed.
Alleged victim: The Duke of BuccleuchMrs Russell said she had been working as a guide for just two months when two men appeared unexpectedly beside her in the Staircase Gallery on August 27, 2003, shortly after the castle's 11am opening time.
She said: 'I did think that was strange. Usually people take their time going through all the different rooms on the way to the staircase hall. There are a lot of things to see along the way.'
Mrs Russell, 25, said one of the men then grabbed her: 'He came from behind, put his hand over my mouth and told me I had to lie down on the ground or they would kill me.'
Fellow guide Sarah Skene, 73, told the court she entered the Staircase Gallery after hearing 'a commotion', adding: 'There was a male standing in front of the painting with an axe in his hand. It was just threatening, I think.'
Another man pulled the Da Vinci painting - one of the stately home's main attractions and believed to be worth between £30-£50million - from the wall, she said. As alarms sounded, the men escaped through a window and down an outside staircase.
The jury were shown CCTV photos of two suspects. One was wearing a white, wide-brimmed hat and a fawn pocketed jacket of the sort favoured by photographers and fishermen.
Accused: Robert Graham, left, and John Doyle
The other man wore a dark jacket and baseball cap. Both appeared to be hiding their faces from the camera.Although the court heard details of the theft, the five men on trial are not accused of the robbery but of conspiring subsequently to extort £4.25 million from the Buccleuch family and its insurers for the painting's safe return.
The men, Marshall Ronald, Robert Graham, 57, and John Doyle, 61, from Lancashire and Calum Jones, 45, of Kilmacolm, Renfrewshire, and David Boyce, 63, of Airdrie, Lanarkshire, also face an alternative charge of attempted extortion. All five deny the charges.
It is alleged that between July and October of 2007, at various addresses in England and Scotland, they, along with others unknown, hatched a plan to extort money from the ninth Duke of Buccleuch - who died just weeks before the painting was recovered - the son who took over his title, and their insurers.
The five are said to have met in the offices of solicitors' firm Boyds, now HBJ Gately Wareing, in West Regent Street, Glasgow, on July 30, 2007, to agree their plan
CCTV footage shows the suspects taking the painting to their getaway car
Two suspects cover their faces with their hands and hats Ronald is alleged to have contacted a chartered loss adjuster acting for the duke's insurers claiming the painting could be returned in 72 hours.
The jury heard he thought he was in touch with the duke's representatives when he sent e-mails and made telephone calls saying 'volatile people' would 'do something very silly' to the picture if police were brought in.
He demanded that £2million should be deposited with a solicitors' firm and another £2.25million placed in a Swiss bank account, but was unaware that the people he was dealing with were actually two undercover officers, the indictment claims.
Ronald is alleged to have bought special acid-free paper and a folio case for transporting the painting and passed on £350,000 to Graham who, along with Doyle, is said to have collected the Da Vinci from somewhere in England and delivered it to the West Regent Street address.
The indictment claims that at a meeting there on October 4, 2007, Ronald, Graham, Doyle and Jones met the undercover officers - known by pseudonyms John Craig and David Restor - with the intention of handing over the painting in return for the money.
Theft: The painting was taken from Drumlanrig Castle in Dumfries and GallowayA separate charge alleges that the five accused attempted to defeat the ends of justice by getting one of the undercover officers to sign an agreement that police would not be told about what was happening.
Part of one charge also alleges that they are guilty of reset and used money during the recovery of the painting which had been embezzled from the client account of a solicitor's firm linked to 53-year-old Ronald.
The trial before Lady Dorrian and a jury of nine women and six men continues
source: dailymail
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