Lawyers for Terry Jon Martin, 76, told a court in Minneapolis that their client had been tempted to make “one last score” before retirement, 6abc reports.

Martin also believed, for some reason, that the slippers — made for the 1939 movie — were encrusted with genuine rubies.

It was not until after the theft from the Judy Garland Museum in 2005 that he realised they were glass.

The shoes were recovered by the FBI in 2018 and Martin was caught last year. He pleaded guilty to theft of a major artwork.

Judge Patrick Schiltz agreed to both defence and prosecution requests to free Martin as he is in hospice care and expected to die within six months.