Man stole £5,200,000 of Viking treasure then ‘gambled fortune away’

Metal detectorist jailed for failing to declare ?5m hoard and flogging it to a man at motorway servicers for ?20k and losing it all gambling — George Powell, pictured, and **Simon Wicks, inset left, and Layton Davis**, inset right, faced court over the incident (Picture: SWNS)

A metal detectorist jailed after he stole Viking treasure worth over £5 million claims he gambled the whole fortune away.

Warehouseman George Powell, 40, failed to declare a cache of rare coins and jewellery that had been buried for over 1,100 years.

Instead of registering his findings with authorities, he admitted he sold the treasure to a rogue antiques dealer at a motorway service station for around £20,000, claiming he had wanted to become rich and ‘get the payout’ instead.

Images shown to Worcester Crown Court of how him and fellow detectorist Layton Davies, 54, holding the treasure had provided the evidence that eventually jailed them.

The court heard there may have been up to 300 coins included in the find, which took place at a farm near Leominster, Herefordshire, in 2015, although only 31 pieces were recovered.

The total value of the haul was predicted to be £5,285,250, claims The Mirror.

Giving evidence at a new hearing last week, Powell claimed to have found only 51 coins, and sold the unrecovered 20 for just £10,000.

FILE PICTURE - Linked to todays, SWNS story SWMDtreasure, November 21, 2019, about how the jury is expected to deliver their verdict in the case of four metal detectorists who are on trial at Worcester Crown Court charged with digging up a haul of Anglo-Saxon and Viking treasure and selling it on the black market. George Powell. A group of metal detectorists stole Anglo Saxon coins worth ?3 million as well as ?invaluable? ancient jewellery they found in a field before selling them on the black market, a court heard. See SWNS story SWMDtreasure. George Powell, 38, and Layton Davies, 51, are accused of failing to declare a priceless hoard of 1,000-year-old buried treasure they discovered on farmland in June 2015. The pair along with Paul Wells, 60, and Simon Wicks, 57, went on trial today (Thurs) accused of conspiring to conceal the treasure at Worcester Crown Court. Their valuable find was said to include a gold ring, bracelet and silver ingot from the ninth century, a crystal ball pendant from the fifth century and 300 coins, including some from the era of Alfred the Great. Jurors were told all four were aware of the law which states buried treasure must be declared, but chose to ignore it and proceeded to sell the items in small batches to a number of customers. — George Powell admitted to selling a set of antique Viking coins **to a rogue antques dealer** for just £20k after mistakenly believing he would get nothing if he reported the find (Picture: SWNS)

Speaking of the money, he admitted to gambling it all away after telling the court he ‘had a bit of a naughty habit’.

Powell, from Newport, South Wales, said he sold 20 coins to crooked antiques dealer Simon Wicks at a service station on the M4 and kept the remaining 31 to himself.

Wicks was jailed for five years for concealment, along with fellow treasure hunter Layton Davies, who claimed to know nothing about the stolen coins.

Powell, who was jailed for six and a half years, said: ‘We are metal detectorists, you want to become rich to get the payout, it’s a treasure hunting hobby.’

FILE PICTURE - Linked to todays, SWNS story SWMDtreasure, October 2, 2019, about how four metal detectorists are on trial at Worcester Crown Court charged with digging up a haul of Anglo-Saxon and Viking treasure and selling it on the black market. Layton Davies. Four metal detectorists have appeared in court to deny illegally dealing — Antiques dealer Simon Wicks was jailed for five years for theft and concealment, along with fellow metal detectorist Layton Davies (Picture: SWNS)

When asked why he had changed his mind and decided to give evidence for the first time, Powell said: ‘I’ve got nothing to lose. I’ve lost my partner, I’m in prison.

‘Your honour and the public deserve the right to know the truth. I think prison has made the best of me. It’s made me realise what I’ve done wrong. It needs to be told.

‘People can change their mind can’t they? A lot can happen over a cup of tea can’t it?’

Davies, a school technician and grandfather from Pontypridd, had reportedly told Powell to report the finding but was ignored by his partner.

Items of ancient treasure which was found by the group. The jury in the trial are expected to return with their verdict today, November 21, 2019. A group of metal detectorists stole Anglo Saxon coins worth ?3 million as well as ?invaluable? ancient jewellery they found in a field before selling them on the black market, a court heard. See SWNS story SWMDtreasure. George Powell, 38, and Layton Davies, 51, were accused of failing to declare a priceless hoard of 1,000-year-old buried treasure they discovered on farmland in June 2015. The pair along with Paul Wells, 60, and Simon Wicks, 57, went on trial accused of conspiring to conceal the treasure at Worcester Crown Court. Their valuable find was said to include a gold ring, bracelet and silver ingot from the ninth century, a crystal ball pendant from the fifth century and 300 coins, including some from the era of Alfred the Great. Jurors were told all four were aware of the law which states buried treasure must be declared, but chose to ignore it and proceeded to sell the items in small batches to a number of customers. — Included in the haul was a set of 51 antique viking coins, a gold ring, a bracelet and a silver ingot estimated to be worth over £5m (Picture: SWNS)

A veteran treasure hunter with more than 100 declared findings under his belt, he clamed to know nothing about the coins or their concealment and was simply ‘in the wrong place at the wrong time.’

When asked if he felt guilty about landing his friend in jail, Powell said: ‘I do feel partially, but it’s his choice, he’s a grown man. If he didn’t want to be there, he didn’t have to be there.’

He added that he didn’t declare the find because the farmer he had sought permission to search from had said Baron Cawley, a peer in the House of Lords, was the owner of the land.

Powell said: ‘We thought there would be no gain from what there was. We were thinking about the money.’

When asked by the judge if he knew that declaring his findings would have entailed a payday of hundreds of thousands of pounds, he said: ‘That’s what I have to live with every day.’

Under the UK Treasure Act 1996, anyone who finds buried treasure is entitled to a share of the rewards if they ‘had permission to be on the land and acted in good faith’.

Asked by Judge Nicholas Cartwright why he didn’t declare it, Powell said: ‘I got a bit greedy at that time Your Honour. I can’t dwell on the past, there are lots of ifs and buts.’

Elsewhere in the treasure hoard was a 9th Century chunky gold ring, a dragon’s head arm bracelet, at least one silver ingot and a small crystal rock pendant held in thin strips of gold dating to the 5th or 6th century.

Ring. Items of ancient treasure which was found by the group. The jury in the trial are expected to return with their verdict today, November 21, 2019. A group of metal detectorists stole Anglo Saxon coins worth ??3 million as well as ???invaluable?? ancient jewellery they found in a field before selling them on the black market, a court heard. See SWNS story SWMDtreasure. George Powell, 38, and Layton Davies, 51, were accused of failing to declare a priceless hoard of 1,000-year-old buried treasure they discovered on farmland in June 2015. The pair along with Paul Wells, 60, and Simon Wicks, 57, went on trial accused of conspiring to conceal the treasure at Worcester Crown Court. Their valuable find was said to include a gold ring, bracelet and silver ingot from the ninth century, a crystal ball pendant from the fifth century and 300 coins, including some from the era of Alfred the Great. Jurors were told all four were aware of the law which states buried treasure must be declared, but chose to ignore it and proceeded to sell the items in small batches to a number of customers. — The treasure was discovered buried beneath a farm in Herefordshire, in 2015 (Picture: SWNS)

There was also an extremely rare ‘two emperors’ coin in the find depicting both King Alfred of Wessex and Ceolwulf II of Mercia.

The coins are historically significant because they reveal how the two separate kingdoms eventually came together in the early stages of the formation of England.

The items are now on display at Hereford Museum Resource and Learning Centre after they were purchased for £776,250.

Powell, Davies and Wicks are set to face a further ruling from the judge next month which could see them face additional jail time.

Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@metro.co.uk.

For more stories like this, check our news page.