Valuables recovered from Powell and Davies. Source: Twitter
England: Two treasure hunters who stole a hoard of ?3 million worth of Anglo Saxon buried valuables in UK’s Herefordshire have been ordered to repay ?1.2 million between them before March 21.
According to the reports, if they fail, their jail term will be increase by an additional five years on top of the existing 18 years’ jail term.
George Powell, 41, and Layton Davies, 54, were sentenced to more than 11 years in prison for failing to report their find.
George Powell and Layton Davies
The convictions came after a thorough investigation by West Mercia Police into allegations made by members of the metal detecting community and the British Museum regarding a sizable treasure find that went unreported in 2015.
Both men had engaged in what Judge Nicholas Cartwright referred to as a “greedy and selfish” act by selling a number of the stolen items they had taken on the black market, raising enormous sums of money.
Only 31 of the coins and pieces of jewellery, worth between ?10,000 and ?50,000, have ever been recovered, with the majority of the hoard still missing.
They handed over only three coins from a 1,100-year-old collection from King Alfred’s rule.
Reportedly, the two came across the collection of coins, jewellery, and silver ingots in the spring of 2015.
The treasures were buried near Leominster, Herefordshire, at Eye Court Farm.
After getting to know, Powell and Davies dug up the hoard, but they chose not to reveal the full extent of their find, which is a violation of The Treasure Act of 1996.
In November 2019, the two were found guilty of theft, conspiracy to conceal criminal property, and conspiracy to convert criminal property.
According to a confiscation Order issued last Wednesday at Worcester Crown Court, they are ordered to pay over ?600,000 each.
If they do not pay the bill on time, they will face an additional five years and four months in prison on top of their current 18-year sentence.
The court sentenced Powell, who was a warehouse worker from Newport, South Wales, six and a half years in prison while Davies, a Pontypridd school caretaker, was sentenced to five years in prison.
Superintendent Edd Williams, Herefordshire’s local policing commander said in an statement: “I’m delighted with today’s result, which brings an end to an investigation that we’ve been working on for seven years”.
He added: “The Confiscation Order, in combination with the sentences received by Powell and Davies, sends a strong and clear message that we take this type of crime very seriously and will take action.’
It is a crime not to report treasure finds to the local coroner’s office.
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