French appeal court upholds conviction of couple for possessing stolen Picasso works A French couple have been convicted for the third time for hoarding 271 works by Pablo Picasso. At the appeal court ruling in Lyon, the lawyer for the artist's son, Claude Ruiz-Picasso, says the real culprits are the art dealers who used the Le Guennecs as "mules". The verdict is the latest twist in a decade-long legal saga, which took the couple, who claim the works were a gift, all the way to France's top appeals court. Pierre and Danielle Le Guennec were first given two-year suspended terms in 2015 after being convicted of possession of stolen goods over the huge trove of works by Picasso, including nine rare Cubist collages and a work from his famous Blue Period. That verdict was upheld in 2016 by a higher court but then quashed by the Cour de Cassation, which ordered a retrial. The former electrician, 80, and his wife, 76, were not in court when they were found guilty for a third time. IMAGES AND SOUNDBITES