A husband and wife were today found guilty of stashing some £50million worth of stolen Picasso art treasures in their garage for almost 40 years.

Pierre Le Guennec, 74, and Danielle, 73, were given a suspended prison sentence of two years by a court in the French Riviera town of Grasse.

Both had insisted that they were all 'presents' from the legendary Spanish artist, but the court found they were 'fraudulently obtained' and ordered them to be returned to his family.

Pierre Le Guennec (right) and his wife Danielle wait for the verdict of their trial. The court today found the couple were found guilty of stashing the 'fraudulently obtained' artwork

The couple address the media following the verdict, in which they were ordered to return the Picasso treasures and given a suspended prison sentence of two years

It was in November 2010 that 271 lithographs, cubist paintings, notebooks and a watercolour were found at their modest home in Mouans-Sartoux, in the South of France.

But six of Picasso's descendants accused them of the crime, and will now take charge of the works.

During the trial, all 271 works, created between 1900 and 1932, were beamed onto a giant screen inside the court.

Le Guennec claimed he was given the collection by the artist and his second wife, Jacqueline, when he was an odd job man at their home in Notre-Dame-de-Vie in Mougins, near Cannes.

Le Guennec, a qualified electrician, installed a burglar alarm at the luxury villa before the artist died in 1973, and said he accepted them as 'thank you' gifts.

Referring to Picasso, Mr Le Guennec said he 'often invited me in to have some cake or a coffee. Me and the master talked about all things great and small.

'One evening, I was leaving my work, when Madame handed me a little package saying: 'This is for you'.

But Claude Picasso, the artist's son, said that his father was noted for his generosity, but that he always dedicated, dated and signed his gifts, as he knew that some recipients might try to sell the works one day.

Two of the newly discovered Picasso drawings, one in a notebook (above left), and the other called 'Nature Morte Verre' (Still life Glass)

Jean-Jacques Neuer, Claude Picasso's barrister, said: 'They don't remember whether they received the so called gift in 1970, 71 or 72. If you are given 271 Picassos, you remember it.

'You have to imagine that Picasso kept hold of them for 70 years and suddenly decided to give the lot away. That's doesn't make sense.'

The only document with the name Le Guennec on is a signed brochure for a Picasso exhibition, said Mr Neuer.

'When you give a present, you choose something precise that fits the person,' said Mr Neuer.

'Picasso here is giving away works that have nothing to do with each other - notably extremely precious cubist collages that represent 10 per cent of his production,' he said.

The couple listen to Judge Jean-Christophe Bruyere give the verdict at a court in Grasse, southeast France

Picasso's son Claude Ruiz (left) and daughter Maya sit in the courtroom today awaiting the verdict

Another Picasso drawing, this time of a horse, from Pierre Le Guennec's collection that he kept in his garage

'But also two notebooks of drawings, work tools that he would never have given away. The issue is not whether Picasso was generous or not. Picasso wasn't someone who was careless about his works – he didn't give work away just for the sake of it.'

Charles-Etienne Gudin, lawyer for the couple, said the works came from the artist's 'Grands-Augustins' studio on Paris's Left Bank.

He said that Mr Le Guennec would never have stolen from the Picasso's villa, describing it as a 'fortress' watched over night and day by security guards.

The trial comes after Marina Picasso, the artist's granddaughter, said she was selling of the famous villa, along with a selection of his work, for up to £190m.

Ms Picasso wrote a memoir 'Picasso: My Grandfather' in 2001, in which she accused him of destroying her childhood.

Picasso's works are the most stolen of any artist in history. He has more than 1,000 paintings registered as taken unlawfully, missing or disputed.

A painting of a hand by Picasso that was among 271 undocumented, never-before-seen works estimated to be worth at least £50million