Thief claimed he gambled away cash from hoard

ONE of the rogue metal detectorists jailed for stealing the hoard claimed that he gambled away money he made from the treasure.

Warehouseman George Powell spoke for the first time about how he failed to declare the rare coins and jewellery that had been buried for over 1,100 years.

Powell admitted he had wanted to become rich and to “get the payout” only for his greed to end in his downfall.

Images showing him and fellow detectorist Layton Davies, 54, holding the treasure provided the evidence that jailed them.

Worcester Crown Court heard there may have been up to 300 coins – with a value of up to £5, 285,250 – buried at the farm near Leominster, Herefordshire, where they unearthed the hoard in June 2015. Only 31 coins and some of the jewellery were recovered.

Giving evidence at the proceeds to crime hearing, Powell claimed he only found 51 coins and sold the unrecovered 20 for just £10,000.

He said of the money: “I gambled it away. I’ve got a bit of a naughty habit.”

Davies knew nothing about him selling any of the coins, he said.

Powell, from Newport, South Wales, said he sold 20 coins to bent dealer Simon Wicks who he met at service stations on the M4 and was later jailed for five years for concealment.

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.”

Asked why he had changed his mind and decided to give evidence for the first time, he 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.

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

School technician Davies, a grandfather from Pontypridd, was said to have told Powell to hand in the treasure and had himself previously declared 100 finds.

Asked if he felt guilty his friend was facing more jail time, 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.”

Davies, who was jailed for five years for theft and concealment, told the court it was a case of him being in the “wrong place at the wrong time”.

Powell said he didn’t declare the find because the farmer he had sought permission to search from had said Lord Cawley was the owner of the land.

The court heard that if the men had declared it, as the law stipulates, they would have pocketed hundreds of thousands legitimately.