Leonardo Da Vinci accused conspiracy claimA court has heard claims a private investigator accused of holding a stolen Leonardo da Vinci to ransom was the victim of a conspiracy.
The High Court in Edinburgh was told Robert Graham had been deceived by both his lawyer and an undercover policeman.
Solicitor advocate John Keenan said his client had only ever believed he was acting within the law.
Mr Graham is one of five men who deny conspiring to extort £4.25m to bring back the Madonna of the Yarnwinder.
The painting was stolen from the Duke of Buccleuch's Drumlanrig Castle in 2003.
The jury at the extortion trial has been hearing the closing speech from Mr Keenan.
He reminded them that when Mr Graham came by information about how the painting might be acquired and returned he sought legal advice from his lawyer Marshall Ronald.
Mr Ronald, in turn, went to two Scottish lawyers.
That led eventually to him negotiating reward money with a man called John Craig who he believed to be an agent of the duke but who was actually an undercover policeman.
Mr Ronald kept Mr Graham in the dark about the detail of that, said Mr Keenan and, later, had actively deceived him.
Mr Keenan said Mr Ronald and the policeman had conspired to lie to his client by telling him there was a signed contract - lodged with lawyers - which stated he was acting on behalf of the duke in getting the painting back.
"There was certainly no conspiracy to extort money by the five men sitting in the dock," said Mr Keenan.
"The only true conspiracy was between Marshall Ronald and John Craig to deceive Robert Graham."
Later, the jury was told that Mr Graham's private-eye colleague John Doyle was just as much a victim.
In his closing speech, his defence agent, solicitor advocate Maurice Smythe, said John Craig had been like a "circus ringmaster". The undercover officer had taken charge and was "pressing the buttons".
'Real agenda'
He reminded the jury that Mr Graham had been heard to offer to Mr Craig that he would take the painting straight to a police station but Mr Craig had told him not to.
"That offer was a contradiction of extortion," he said, but Mr Craig rejected it because it "interfered with his real agenda".
"He wanted not only the painting," said Mr Smythe. "He wanted bodies. He wanted arrests."
Mr Smythe said both Mr Doyle and Mr Graham "believed in their heart and soul" that they were doing an honest thing. When they took the painting to Glasgow they were "full of pride - bursting with it".
"Their intentions were entirely pure. They were giving it back to the duke. They were delighted to do so," he said.
He dismissed the Crown's suggestion that they were involved in a criminal conspiracy as "a mad idea".
On trial with Mr Graham, 57, Mr Ronald, 53, and Mr Doyle, 61, all from Lancashire, are Calum Jones, 45, of Renfrewshire, and David Boyce, 63, of Lanarkshire.
They deny conspiring to extort £4.25m between July and October 2007. The trial continues.
Da Vinci accused private eye 'was conned'
A private detective accused of plotting to hold a stolen Leonardo da Vinci masterpiece to ransom was conned, a jury heard on Thursday.Robert Graham, 57, was told a contract had been signed which protected him from prosecution if he helped return the art treasure to its rightful home in Drumlanrig Castle, Dumfreisshire.
But a Lancashire-based lawyer he turned to for help lied to him, claimed solicitor advocate John Keenan, defending in his closing speech at the High Court in Edinburgh.
Graham is one of five men accused of demanding a ransom of more than £4million for the safe return of the Madonna of the Yarnwinder painting.
The art treasure had been missing for more than four years after armed raiders stole it from the Duke of Buccleuch's stately home in August 2003.
Mr Keenan, asking jurors to acquit Graham, said he had been confronted by "a thorny problem" after a tip-off that he could get his hands on the painting.
He needed expert advice and went to solicitor Marshall Ronald to see how the picture could be returned to its rightful owner without breaking the law.
Ronald, 53, then began "a personal crusade" with series of exchanges with a man he knew as John Craig, believing him to be the Duke of Buccleuch's representative. Mr Craig was, in fact, an undercover detective.
The seven week trial has heard that Ronald also used the opportunity to negotiate a £2million cut for himself - without telling Graham or any of the other accused.
Mr Keenan said: "Unfortunately he (Graham) was let down and, worse than that, he was deceived.
"Much of what Marshall Ronald did was deceitful and dishonest but it has not been established that the things he was doing were done with the knowledge of Robert Graham.
"He was kept in the dark about the way things were progressing."
Ronald had also described Graham and co-accused John Doyle - partner in their private investigation firm - as "those two idiots".
Mr Keenan said the under-cover officer had also helped persuade Graham that a contract gave him immunity.
"Without the lies spun by Marshall Ronald and John Craig the return of the painting would not have happened.
"The only true conspiracy was between Marshall Ronald and John Craig to deceive Robert Graham."
Solicitor advocate Maurice Smyth, for Doyle, said the two private eyes were proud and delighted to be able to return the Leonardo da Vinci painting.
"Their intentions were pure. They were giving the painting back to the Duke," he told the jury.
Defence QC Jack Davidson, for Scottish lawyer Calum Jones, 45, described the story which had unwound during the trial as "a colourful tale" but insisted Jones had done no wrong.
Mr Davidson said it beggared belief that during the course of a meeting lasting little over and hour Jones had agreed to a career-wrecking conspiracy plan, putting his whole life in jeopardy, with people he had never met before.
On trial are solicitor Marshall Ronald, 53, of Highmeadow, Ravenscroft, Upholland, Skelmersdale; private investigator Robert Graham, 57, of Gawhill Lane, Aughton, Ormskirk, Lancashire, his private eye partner John Doyle, 61, of Summerwood Lane, Halsall, Ormskirk, Lancashire; solicitor Calum Jones, 45, of Kepstorn, Knockbuckle Road, Kilmacolm, Renfrewshire, and solicitor David Boyce, 63, of Clark Street, Airdrie, Lanarkshire.
They deny conspiring to extort pounds £4.25m between July and October 2007. An alternative charge of attempting to extort the money has been dropped.
Leonardo da Vinci conspiracy claims 'startling'
A court has been told a solicitor would not have put his unblemished record at risk by getting involved in a plot to ransom a stolen Leonardo da Vinci.
In his closing speech, defence QC David Burns said David Boyce, 63, should be cleared of a conspiracy charge.
He said claiming his client could have got involved amounted to a "startling proposition".
Mr Boyce is one of five men who deny conspiring to extort £4.25m to bring back the Madonna of the Yarnwinder.
The painting was stolen from the Duke of Buccleuch's Drumlanrig Castle in Dumfries and Galloway in 2003.
Mr Burns told the High Court in Edinburgh his client believed everything he had done was legal and above board.
He added he would do nothing to harm his staff or his own standing.
'Wholly incredible'
The lawyer denied that Mr Boyce had become part of a criminal conspiracy.
"Application of your commonsense may tell you that this is wholly incredible," he said.
"Would he risk ruin, his career, his future by becoming knowingly involved in a plan to extort?"
The court has previously heard from QC Jack Davidson, representing Mr Boyce's former colleague Calum Jones.
He described the case as "a colourful tale" but insisted his client had done no wrong.
Mr Davidson said it beggared belief that during the course of a meeting lasting little over an hour Mr Jones had agreed to a career-wrecking conspiracy plan, putting his whole life in jeopardy, with people he had never met before.
On trial with Mr Boyce, of Lanarkshire, and Mr Jones, 45, of Renfrewshire, are Robert Graham, 57, Marshall Ronald, 53, and John Doyle, 61, all from Lancashire.
They deny conspiring to extort £4.25m between July and October 2007.
The trial continues.
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