An expert gasped when he saw coins unearthed by two men now convicted of theft
On a sunny day in June 2015 amateur metal detectorists George Powell and Layton Davies were hunting for treasure in fields at a remote spot in Herefordshire.
The pair had done their research carefully and were focusing on a promising area just north of Leominster, close to high land and a wood with intriguing regal names – Kings Hall Hill and Kings Hall Covert.
More: theguardian.com/uk-news/2019/nov/21/detectorists-hid-find-that-rewrites-anglo-saxon-history
Off-topic a bit but still topical. ;-)
Read this with interest. The area "just north of Leominster" is where I grew up.
What a pair of stupid greedy prats; they stood to make a decent sum of money quite lawfully though it seems they may not have had the landowner's permission to search. Even so.....
It is like the popular TV series "Detectorists" but in reverse and with really stupid characters.
This story has the sentencing (10 years and 8 and a half years), pictures of the culprits (one of them has a kind of beard thing and a neck tattoo) and some photos of the lovely baubles.
msn.com/en-gb/news/crime/detectorists-jailed-for-stealing-£12m-viking-hoard-of-gold-and-silver/ar-BBXamBt?ocid=mailsignout
Around 9 Million quids worth still missing. Really careless them Saxon/ Viking guys...
Now I've looked at some maps, I walked past about 300m from this back in May, it's very very close to where I grew up. It's exciting to learn that I was apparently living on the route of a Viking retreat.
I couldn't help thinking the sentences were somewhat harsh - a big jump from 3 months to a collective 18 and half years.
"such finds should be reported to the local coroner within 14 days and failure to do so risks an unlimited fine and up to three months in prison"
People get less than that for killing someone through dangerous driving. A young lad who stabbed his 17 year old girlfriend to death in Calne got 12 years - probably out in six.
Yes but I think the magnitude of the value and the fact that 80% of the coins are unaccounted for pushed this into another league, theft as opposed merely to failure to report. Obviously in comparison to punishments for crimes involving fatality they look disproportionate but that's a fault of the criminal justice system. As a deterrent I hope these sentences send out a very strong message.
Ironstone - thanks for your measured comment. Please don't get me wrong, I totally disapprove of what they did, like you said in an earlier comment "stupid, greedy, prats" with the emphasis on stupid. 10 years is a long time in prison though - would have thought six would have served as both appropriate punishment and a very strong deterrent. They'll just have to behave themselves, cough up more information if they have it and hope to get out on licence sometime in the next decade.