Three guilty of The Scream theft

Munch created a number of versions of The Scream, his most iconic work

Three men have been found guilty of charges relating to the theft of the Edvard Munch masterpieces The Scream and Madonna, which are still missing.

The court in Norway acquitted another three people. All six men had pleaded not guilty.

They faced various charges relating to the theft of the paintings on 22 August 2004 from the Munch Museum in Oslo.

The three convicted men received prison sentences of between four to eight years for their role in the theft.

Five of the men had been charged with planning or taking part in the daylight robbery, and the sixth had been accused of handling stolen goods.

International search

Judge Arne Lyng sentenced Bjoern Hoen to seven years for planning the robbery, Petter Tharaldsen to eight years in prison for driving the getaway car and Petter Rosenvinge received four years for supplying the vehicle.

Hoen and Tharaldsen were also ordered to pay 750m kroner (£66.3m) compensation to the City of Oslo to reflect the value of its lost paintings.

Stian Skjold, 30, who had been accused of being one of the two robbers; Morten Hugo Johansen, 39; and Thomas Nataas, 35, accused of handling stolen goods, were acquitted.

The paintings were stolen by two armed men who ripped them from the wall after threatening a member of staff with a gun.

They then made off with The Scream and Madonna in a stolen getaway car driven by an accomplice.

The paintings were moved to an unknown location and neither of the stolen works has been seen since, despite an international search and the offer of a reward.

But police are hopeful the paintings will eventually be recovered.

"We don't think they have been destroyed," said police attorney Morten Hojem Ervikaid.

"We know a lot, but I can't share all of that with you here now because this work is still going on."