Metal detectorists convicted of stealing £3million Viking hoard dating back 1,100 years
TWO metal detectorists were yesterday convicted of stealing a £3million Viking hoard — much of which is still missing.
George Powell, 38, and Layton Davies, 51, failed to declare they had unearthed treasures dating back 1,100 years.
They included a ninth-century gold ring, a dragon’s head bracelet, a silver ingot, a crystal rock pendant dating to the fifth century and up to 300 coins, some from the reign of King Alfred.
Only 31 coins and some jewellery have been recovered, though phone snaps showed the larger hoard, still intact, in a freshly dug hole.
The items, many of which were Anglo Saxon but are typical of a Viking burial hoard, were dug up in Eye, Herefordshire, in 2015.
Powell and Davies showed some to a museum in Cardiff and hoped to sell the remainder in small batches.
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Police traced some to collectors and valuers, or simply hidden away.
Powell, of Newport, and Davies, of Pontypridd, were also convicted with Paul Wells, 60, of Cardiff, and Simon Wicks, 57, of Hailsham, East Sussex, of conspiring to conceal the find.
They will be sentenced later by Worcester crown court.
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