THREE Ormskirk and Skelmersdale men have gone on trial in connection with the sensational theft of a £40m Leonardo da Vinci painting from a Scottish castle.

The Madonna Of The Yarnwinder was taken from the walls of Drumlanrig Castle, in Dumfries and Galloway, almost seven years ago, on August 27, 2003.

It is alleged that solicitor Marshall Ronald, 53, of Skelmersdale, Robert Graham, 57, of Ormskirk, and John Doyle, 61, of Ormskirk, hatched a plot to demand £4.25m for the masterpiece’s safe return.

The three defendants, along with another two men from Scotland, deny charges of conspiring to extort or attempting to extort the money from the late Duke of Buccleuch, his son and the insurers of the artwork as the trial opened yesterday at Edinburgh High Court.

The five are alleged to have threatened the Duke and his family that the painting would be badly damaged or destroyed if the ransom was ignored.

The jury heard how, on August 27, 2003, a tour guide was threatened she would be killed if she refused to comply with an order by two robbers at the Scottish stately home.

Alison Renwick, 25, said she was left “very shocked” after one of them approached her from behind, covered her mouth and told her to lie on the ground.

The famous Madonna Of The Yarnwinder was stolen and the thieves disappeared out of a window.

Another tour guide told the High Court in Edinburgh how she saw a man “guarding” the artwork with an axe in his hand before they vanished.

Ms Renwick, the court was told, recalled how two men arrived at 11am when the doors opened to the public, and found it “strange” they had arrived so promptly.

When she tried to talk, the guide recalled, they did not seem interested before she was confronted.

Ms Renwick said: “He came from behind and put his hand over my mouth. He told me I had to lie down on the ground or he would kill me.”

She said she lay on the ground and could hear them remove the painting from the wall before leaving with the artwork.