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.
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