A LAWYER who was struck off has dropped a legal claim against police authorities following the theft and recovery of a Leonardo da Vinci painting stolen from a castle.
Marshall Ronald is still pursuing an action against a Scottish aristocrat after judge Lord Uist ruled it would not be fair to dismiss it at this stage in proceedings.
Mr Ronald originally raised a case against both the Duke of Buccleuch and a Scottish police force, seeking £4.25 million.
He was acquitted with others of a conspiracy to extort £4.25m for the safe return of the masterpiece at a trial at the High Court in Edinburgh in 2010.
The artwork, the Madonna of the Yarnwinder, was stolen from the Duke of Buccleuch's Drumlanrig Castle in August 2003.
A covert operation eventually led to the recovery of the painting following a meeting at the offices of a Glasgow law firm on October 4, 2007. Mr Ronald and others who had attended were detained.
Mr Ronald, of Skelmersdale, Lancashire, subsequently raised an action at the Court of Session in Edinburgh claiming that he was owed payment of £4.25m for the return of the painting.
Lawyers acting for the Duke maintained that he had not entered into any contract with Mr Ronald.
The Duke's counsel Andrew Young QC moved the court to dismiss the case because of the failure to lodge a closed record.
Mr Ronald, who appeared on his own behalf, opposed the motion. The judge continued the case.
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