Metal Detectorists Ordered To Repay £1.2 Million Between Them 'Immediately'

[Treasure_Hunter]

Two "greedy" metal detectorists who stole a £3 million hoard of Anglo-Saxon buried treasure have been ordered to repay £1.2 million 'immediately'

Two "greedy" metal detectorists who stole a £3 million hoard of Anglo-Saxon buried treasure have been ordered to repay £1.2 million between them 'immediately'. George Powell, 41, and Layton Davies, 54, were found guilty of theft, conspiracy to conceal criminal property and conspiracy to convert criminal property in November 2019. They have now been told they must pay back over £600k each - according to a confiscation Order was made last Wednesday (21/12) at Worcester Crown Court.

The pair were jailed for more than 11 years after failing to report their find and handed over just three 'valueless' coins - out of a 1,100 year-old collection from the reign of King Alfred - that 'rewrote history'. The pair stumbled upon the collection of coins, jewellery and silver ingots buried at Eye Court Farm, near Leominster, Herefordshire, in the spring of 2015. They 'clumsily' dug up the hoard and failed to disclose the extent of their discovery - a requirement under the Treasure Act 1996. Powell, a warehouse worker from Newport, South Wales, was jailed for six-and-a-half years. Davies, a school caretaker from Pontypridd, was jailed or five years.

They must now repay £601,250 and £603,180 respectively within three months - giving them until March 21, 2023. If they fail to pay the bill on time, they can expect an additional five years and four months of jail time on top of their existing 18 year sentence.

MSN

 

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[Peyton Manning]

Did they sell the coins?

 

[pepperj]

Did they sell the coins?

"They went on to sell several items on the black market, raising enormous sums of money in what Judge Nicholas Cartwright described as a 'greedy and selfish' act.

Only 31 of the coins - worth between £10,000 and £50,000 - and pieces of jewellery have ever been recovered, with the majority of the hoard still missing.

At their 2019 conviction, Judge Cartwright also noted that had the men pursued legal means of reporting the find, they could have stood to gain half a million each."

2 greedy wankers that will have to pay instead of getting the 1/2 Million pounds.

 

[UnderMiner]

This is why we will never know about 99% of the coolest treasure hoards found. Because nobody wants to report them.

 

[Kray Gelder]

The Brits have some strict laws on what one has to do when finding a hoard/treasure/historic stuff. They both knew of them. That said, what's the point of collecting cash from the two "greedy" guys? They have both served more years than violent criminals would get. Money won't bring back the stuff.

Maybe it's about the landowners. They were supposed to get a hefty legally determined percentage as well, I believe.

 

[pepperj]

This is why we will never know about 99% of the coolest treasure hoards found. Because nobody wants to report them.

It works pretty good in the UK-might take a few years to wrangle through the PAS.
If the museum doesn't buy it, then it's returned and the finder. They can keep it, sell it, or donate it as long as it's in agreement with the landowner.
$1 Million pounds isn't a bad day of detecting, and if they don't like the offer they can appeal the sum.

 

[pepperj]

The Brits have some strict laws on what one has to do when finding a hoard/treasure/historic stuff. They both knew of them. That said, what's the point of collecting cash from the two "greedy" guys? They have both served more years than violent criminals would get. Money won't bring back the stuff.

Maybe it's about the landowners. They were supposed to get a hefty legally determined percentage as well, I believe.

It would of been what ever the agreement was, or 50% goes to the landowner.
If a person finds a treasure, and it's disclaimed and returned.
At this point if the finder wants to retain it-then they can buy out the landowner part. (Usually for a less amount)
If it's a case where both want it-then an auction sale might happen.

 

[SeabeeRon]

Rules is Rules!

 

[smokeythecat]

Boy were they dumb. Freedom trumps treasure.

 

[Red-Coat]

Some clarifications and corrections:

In England, Wales & Northern Ireland the ‘Treasure Act 1996’ allows for a reward up to the market value of the treasure to be shared among the finder and the tenants and/or owners of the land on which the treasure was found, plus other interested parties in some circumstances. The amount of the reward and how it is divided among the potential claimants is determined by the Treasure Valuation Committee (as recommendations to the Secretary of State) taking into account any agreements that might have been struck between the finders and the landowners or occupiers. It’s not the case that the landowner automatically gets 50% and the recommendations can also be subject to further legal challenge.

In this case, notwithstanding the failure to report the finds, there were significant complications arising from land ownership, the legality of the permissions given, and the absence of any written agreements.

George Powell (and his partner Layton Davies) had sought permission from a lady named Yvonne Conod to sweep ‘her’ land with a metal detector, and also from her son Mark to search an adjacent farm. Both had verbally given permission. What Powell and Davies may not have known at the time is that although Mrs Conod did own at least some of the land, she was also a home and property tenant; and her son was a tenant farmer on a 208-acre dairy and crop farm (Eye Court Farm) actually owned by Lord Cawley.

Powell lied to the Conods about what they had found and where, and also lied that the finds had been reported. The Conods were fobbed off with a few coins of low value (likely found elsewhere) and shown pictures of a dragon-head bracelet and a gold ring which Powell falsely said had been reported to a museum. He didn’t tell them they had also found a 9th Century silver ingot, a 5th Century crystal ball pendant and a hoard of some 300 coins (as well as perhaps other undisclosed items).

By this time Powell and Davies had reached the conclusion that “the landowner’s gonna be a problem” [if the hoard was reported] since the ‘hoard’ was apparently found on the land belonging to Lord Cawley, who had not been involved in any discussion about permissions. Whether or not they intended to conceal the hoard from the museum authorities from the outset is unclear, but they soon decided that they would be better off covertly selling it illegally in small batches rather than reporting it and seeking a share of any reward.

In the meantime, Powell apparently had trouble containing his excitement and had posted an image of coins from the hoard on the website of a local detectorist group. Rumours then spread rapidly in the detectorist community and on social media, ultimately coming to the attention of Pete Reavill, the Finds Liaison Officer for the museum services of Herefordshire and Shropshire where the hoard was found. Reavill contacted Powell and Davies by email, warning them that failure to report such finds was a criminal offence and giving them 14 days to respond. Powell tried to bluff it out, responding that he would not tolerate being slandered.

The contact from Reavill seems to have prompted the pair to hastily arrange a meeting at the Museum of Wales with Mark Lodwick, the Finds Liaison Officer for Wales. Quite why they did this is unclear since the finds were actually made in England, although Eye Court Farm isn’t that far from the Welsh border. Perhaps they weren’t keen to engage with Pete Reavill, whose suspicions had been aroused, or perhaps it was because the pair were Welsh residents.

Nevertheless, far from getting them off the hook, this belated attempt to square things with museum authorities only raised further suspicions. At the meeting they produced only three pieces of jewellery and two coins, claiming that these were isolated finds from different locations which did not represent a ‘hoard’, and therefore were not subject to the provisions of the Treasure Act. They were vague about the actual date for the finds, only identified the general area on a map, and claimed they didn’t know the name of the farm or the farmer. Their story soon fell apart and they were then arrested on suspicion of theft.

 

[sprailroad]

I think in America here, it's more like, "Don't ask, don't tell." I wish we had your Treasure trove laws, for us, in many cases, anything 50 years or older can fall under the "Antiquities' act", at least in some states. Years ago, in Oregon, on State owned land, a State Forestry law enforcement officer told me that I could not keep any item over 50 yrs. old, (bottle hunting), was he right? When I asked him how he can tell the age between two Mason jars, one being 49 yrs. old, and the other being 50. He did not like that.....gets better though, I believe our Congress says anything 100 yrs. old fall under the Antiquities Act. The 50 year thing is a State Forestry thing. God save the King, and your Treasure Trove laws Red-Coat. We here have "Detector Envy". At least I do.

 

[Red-Coat]

I think in America here, it's more like, "Don't ask, don't tell." I wish we had your Treasure trove laws, for us, in many cases, anything 50 years or older can fall under the "Antiquities' act", at least in some states. Years ago, in Oregon, on State owned land, a State Forestry law enforcement officer told me that I could not keep any item over 50 yrs. old, (bottle hunting), was he right? When I asked him how he can tell the age between two Mason jars, one being 49 yrs. old, and the other being 50. He did not like that.....gets better though, I believe our Congress says anything 100 yrs. old fall under the Antiquities Act. The 50 year thing is a State Forestry thing. God save the King, and your Treasure Trove laws Red-Coat. We here have "Detector Envy". At least I do.

Thanks. Yes, I think the law here works well for both the museum authorities and for detectorists, providing they aren't too greedy. There is always some belly-aching that the Treasure Valuation Committee habitually "undervalues" finds versus what the finders think they could fetch on fleabay or other markets. The Committee works with a brief to judge what would be a "fair market price between a willing seller and a willing buyer"... not what the items might realise in a competitive auction with aggressive bidding.

For the museum services, in the event that (assuming they want the items) they don't have the funds available, they can be granted a period of time (usually a few months) to raise the money via a grant or a public appeal.

 

[Johnnybravo300]

Dont steal from the govt. They dont like competition!

 

[releventchair]

Life changing recoveries ; and choices and decisions following such.
Choose wisely!

 

[Mackaydon]

"You reap what you sow."
Don........

 

[devldog]

And both these treasure hunters said in unison............DOH!!!!!!!!

 

[MalteseFalcon]

I personally feel that British Law is MORE than fair.

1. You get to claim you are the finder.
2. Your find gets to be displayed in a museum for scholars and the public.
3. You get a bunch of money.

How can someone NOT think that is fair?

The US should have a Federal law like that. All these state and local laws that turn the finder into a criminal or victim are just a bunch of foolishness.

 

[Red-Coat]

Two more thieves convicted today, plus more of the coins from the Herefordshire hoard recovered following a Police sting. Significant jail time expected when these two are sentenced next month:

Men guilty of Anglo-Saxon coin sale plot

Craig Best and Roger Pilling were caught in a police sting trying to sell coins valued at £766,000.

www.bbc.co.uk

 

[EKG]

Two "greedy" metal detectorists who stole a £3 million hoard of Anglo-Saxon buried treasure have been ordered to repay £1.2 million 'immediately'

Two "greedy" metal detectorists who stole a £3 million hoard of Anglo-Saxon buried treasure have been ordered to repay £1.2 million between them 'immediately'. George Powell, 41, and Layton Davies, 54, were found guilty of theft, conspiracy to conceal criminal property and conspiracy to convert criminal property in November 2019. They have now been told they must pay back over £600k each - according to a confiscation Order was made last Wednesday (21/12) at Worcester Crown Court.

The pair were jailed for more than 11 years after failing to report their find and handed over just three 'valueless' coins - out of a 1,100 year-old collection from the reign of King Alfred - that 'rewrote history'. The pair stumbled upon the collection of coins, jewellery and silver ingots buried at Eye Court Farm, near Leominster, Herefordshire, in the spring of 2015. They 'clumsily' dug up the hoard and failed to disclose the extent of their discovery - a requirement under the Treasure Act 1996. Powell, a warehouse worker from Newport, South Wales, was jailed for six-and-a-half years. Davies, a school caretaker from Pontypridd, was jailed or five years.

They must now repay £601,250 and £603,180 respectively within three months - giving them until March 21, 2023. If they fail to pay the bill on time, they can expect an additional five years and four months of jail time on top of their existing 18 year sentence.

MSN

Always put the source so no problems can come up with copyright. bla bla bla

Two 'greedy' metal detectorists who were jailed ordered to repay £1.2m

George Powell, 41, Newport, South Wales, and Layton Davies, 54, from Pontypridd have been ordered by Worcester Crown Court to pay back more than £600k each.

www.dailymail.co.uk

 

[tamrock]

I personally feel that British Law is MORE than fair.

1. You get to claim you are the finder.
2. Your find gets to be displayed in a museum for scholars and the public.
3. You get a bunch of money.

How can someone NOT think that is fair?

The US should have a Federal law like that. All these state and local laws that turn the finder into a criminal or victim are just a bunch of foolishness.

It's really no concern here in the US. We're not old enough to produce the type of hoards found in Europe. Here's one I was reading about today found in Italy.

A Trove of 175 Roman Coins, Hidden for 2,000 Years, Was Found in an Italian Forest

A group of 176 ancient Roman coins have been discovered in a forest outside Livorno.

www.artnews.com