Drumlanrig Da Vinci Madonna case update

The trial of five men charged with conspiring to extort money from the Duke of Buccleuch for the safe return of his stolen Leonardo da Vinci painting will start on 30 March 2009, it was decided on 17 November 2008. 

Four of the five accused, who include Scottish solicitor Calum Jones, have pleaded not guilty, while the fifth has entered no plea until a defence of entrapment is investigated.

The painting, Madonna with the Yarnwinder, was stolen from the Duke’s Drumlanrig Castle in Dumfries-shire in 2003, and was recovered at the Glasgow offices of HBJ Gateley Waring in October 2007.  The charges state that the accused said the painting would not be returned unless £2 million was deposited in a client account at Marshall Solicitors of Skelmersdale in Lancashire and a further £2.5 million in a Swiss bank account.