Three men from England and two from Scotland allegedly hatched a plan between July and October 2007 to get the money from the ninth Duke of Buccleuch - who died weeks before the painting was recovered - his son, the 10th Duke, and their insurers. He is alleged to have bought special acid-free paper and a folio case to transport the painting and to have passed £350,000 to Robert Graham, 57, of Ormskirk, Lancashire, who along with John Doyle, 61, also of Ormskirk, is said to have collected the painting from a location in England and delivered it to the office in Glasgow. The painting, one of the main attractions in the stately home, was pulled from the wall by the other man and, as the alarm sounded, the pair escaped through a window and down a staircase. The trial centres on a claim that they were holding the painting to ransom in an attempt to get members of the family and their insurers to pay for its safe return. The five men are also charged with trying to defeat the ends of justice by getting one of the officers to sign an agreement that the police would not be told.

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