Officer tells of stolen da Vinci role

Published on Wednesday 10 March 2010 21:52

A LAWYER wanted to discuss other works of art after he had helped in the recovery of a stolen £20 million painting, a court has heard.

Marshall Ronald, 53, a solicitor from Skelmersdale, Lancashire, allegedly had negotiated a personal payment of more than 2 million and another 2m to be shared by him and four associates for returning Leonardo da Vinci's Madonna of the Yarnwinder. The deal had been agreed with "John Craig", a man who posed as a representative of the Duke of Buccleuch, from whom the painting had been stolen, but who was an undercover policeman, the High Court in Edinburgh has heard.

Ronald attended a meeting in the offices of Glasgow law firm HBJ Gateley Wareing, when the painting was produced to "John Craig" and a colleague pretending to be an art expert to verify it.

Giving evidence while the public was screened from seeing him, "John Craig" said that, as part of his pretence, he made a phone call to have money released into bank accounts for which Ronald had supplied the details.

He said: "Marshall Ronald wanted a conversation about other artworks, a Van Gogh and a Rembrandt."

A short time later, the police arrived, seized the painting and detained everyone in the room, including the two officers.

The trial continues.