Police launch manhunt for mental detectorist thief who stole £3m hoard of Viking gold
Andrew Pierce reacts to police officers being urged not to use the term 'blacklisted'
GB News
A warrant has been issued for the arrest of George Powell after he failed to appear at Birmingham Magistrates Court earlier this month.
Powell, from Newport, was due to be sentenced on January 8 for failing to repay £600,000 from a stolen Viking hoard worth £3 million.
The sum represents his share of missing coins and jewellery, which a judge had previously ordered him to return.
His fellow metal detectorist Layton Davies, from Pontypridd, is currently serving an additional five years and three months in prison for failing to pay his share of the same amount.
The hoard also contained several remarkable pieces of jewellery, including a 9th-century gold ring
The British Museum
The warrant comes after Powell's attempts to avoid returning to prison were rejected by both an appeal judge and the Court of Appeal in London.
In 2015, Powell and Davies discovered approximately 300 coins and gold jewellery while metal detecting in a field near Leominster, Herefordshire.
Instead of declaring their find as required by law, the pair sold the valuable items to dealers.
The men were found guilty in 2019 of theft, conspiring to conceal criminal property, and converting criminal property by selling it.
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Powell received a 10-year prison sentence, which was later reduced to six and a half years on appeal.
Davies was sentenced to eight and a half years, subsequently reduced to five years.
At the time of their trial, only 31 of the estimated 300 coins had been recovered by authorities.
Experts believe the coins were Anglo-Saxon and had been hidden by a Viking.
Among the most significant finds was a double-headed coin depicting two English rulers: Alfred the Great of Wessex and Ceolwulf II of Mercia.
This rare coin provided evidence of a previously unknown alliance between the two kings, changing historians' understanding of England's unification.
The hoard also contained several remarkable pieces of jewellery, including a 9th-century gold ring, a crystal rock pendant, a dragon's head bracelet and an ingot.
During the trial, the judge condemned Powell and Davies for stealing what he described as the nation's history.
This rare coin provided evidence of a previously unknown alliance between the two kings
The British Museum
Judge Nicholas Cartwright later stated he believed approximately 270 coins were still being deliberately concealed by the pair.
In 2022, both men appeared at Worcester Crown Court and were each ordered to repay £600,000 or face additional jail time.
Hereford Museum has since raised £776,250 to purchase the recovered jewellery, ingot, and 29 coins from the field's owner.
The museum is currently undergoing a £22 million refurbishment and plans to display the recovered items permanently once reopened.
In a related development, two additional men were jailed in May 2023 for attempting to sell 44 rare Anglo-Saxon coins worth £766,000, believed to be part of the original hoard.
Craig Best from County Durham and Roger Pilling from Lancashire each received sentences of five years and two months.
Despite these recoveries, the majority of the historic hoard remains missing.
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