Lawyers Charged

One of the lawyers charged with attempting to extort £4.25m for the safe return of a Da Vinci masterpiece has had his firm closed down and is being investigated by the Solicitors ­Regulation Authority (SRA).

Marshall Ronald, ­formerly of Lancashire firm Marshall Solicitors, recently appeared in court in connection with the 2003 theft of the ­Madonna of the Yarnwinder. He is understood to have entered no plea.

An SRA spokesperson said: “His firm was ­intervened into on the grounds of suspected ­dishonesty and breaches of the solicitor account rules.”

It is alleged that the £30m painting would not be returned unless £2m was deposited in a client account at Marshalls and a further £2.25m into a Swiss bank account.

Ronald appeared in court alongside two lawyers from the Glasgow office of HBJ Gateley Wareing. David Boyce, a property partner, and his former colleague Calum Jones, an insolvency partner, are understood to have pleaded not guilty to attempting to extort money.