|
Scream robbers jailed
23/04/2007 16:24 - (SA)
Oslo - Three men convicted of the 2004 theft of expressionist masterpiece The Scream received prison sentences of up to nine-and-a-half years on Monday.
A Norwegian appeals court handed out sentences ranging from five-and-a-half to nine-and-a-half years and ordered the men to pay a total of 1.57 million kroner (about R1.84m) in damages to the city of Oslo.
The money will cover the loss of income at the city's Munch Museum and repairs to Edvard Munch's "The Scream" and "Madonna", which was also stolen in the heist.
Two armed masked robbers snatched the paintings from the Munch Museum in August 2004 in a daring daytime raid.
The works were recovered in August last year.
The circumstances of their recovery and whereabouts while stolen remain a mystery.
Only one of the two men who actually entered the building to steal the paintings, Stian Skjold, was convicted.
'The brains behind the heist'
His accomplice died of a heroin overdose on November 3 before he could be charged, said police.
The two other convicted men were Petter Tharaldsen, the gang's driver, and Bjoern Hoen who was one of the brains behind the heist.
Tharaldsen received the heaviest sentence of nine-and-a-half years, but the period also covers another armed robbery for which he was convicted.
Hoen was handed a nine-year sentence while Skjold received five-and-a-half years.
The prosecution had sought terms of 10, 12 and seven years against Tharaldsen, Hoen and Skjold.
The three had pleaded not guilty.
|
News
