{"id":36760,"date":"2025-04-20T22:46:18","date_gmt":"2025-04-20T22:46:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/36760\/"},"modified":"2025-04-20T22:46:18","modified_gmt":"2025-04-20T22:46:18","slug":"i-found-12m-of-viking-gold-like-tv-detectorists-but-it-was-a-curse-now-im-in-jail-my-pals-on-the-run","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/36760\/","title":{"rendered":"I found \u00a312m of Viking gold like TV detectorists but it was a curse – now I’m in jail & my pal’s on the run"},"content":{"rendered":"

WAFTING their metal detectors over rolling \u00adfarmland, George Powell and Layton Davies dreamt of striking it rich.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Like the hapless characters in BBC show Detectorists<\/a>, the pair had tramped the countryside for years hoping to discover a life-changing treasure hoard.<\/p>\n

\"Simon<\/a><\/p>\n

5<\/p>\n

Simon Wicks was sent to prison for conspiring to conceal some ancient loot he uncoveredCredit: Gary Stone\"Two<\/a><\/p>\n

5<\/p>\n

Toby Jones, left, and Mackenzie Crook in the sitcom DetectoristsCredit: BBC<\/p>\n

Then one sunny June day in Herefordshire<\/a>, their luck changed.
Warehouseman Powell and school caretaker Davies chanced upon a Viking cache of gold jewels and coins<\/a>, perhaps worth \u00a312million.<\/p>\n

It should have made them filthy rich, but instead it became a curse.<\/p>\n

First, the pair broke the law by failing to surrender the haul, then bragged about it online and hawked the collection around antique dealers.<\/p>\n

When experts urged them to report the loot, they snubbed the advice and even denied their incredible find<\/a>.<\/p>\n

They were eventually arrested after declaring some of the collection to a museum. <\/p>\n

But following a stretch in prison, neither fulfilled a court order to pay back their ill-gotten gains.<\/p>\n

Davies, 56,<\/a> was put behind bars again and Powell, 44,<\/a> went on the run. More than 200 coins remain unaccounted for.<\/p>\n

Ironically, the pair only have their own greed and stupidity to blame for their bad fortune.<\/p>\n

For they would likely have been entitled to half the value of the bumper trove if they had passed it to authorities in the beginning.<\/p>\n

Former antiques<\/a> dealer Simon Wicks, who was also jailed for conspiring to conceal some of the loot, told me: \u201cThese coins have been a curse from the day they were found. Prison is the last place I thought I\u2019d end up in life.\u201d<\/p>\n

Young metal detectorist, 13, finds \u2018once-in-a-lifetime\u2019 Bronze Age axe hoard on her third dig<\/p>\n

The grandfather-of-nine added: \u201cI\u2019ve heard George is on the run, which is crazy. If you are out there mate, you should really hand yourself in.<\/p>\n

\u201cI wish I could speak to him and talk some sense into him.<\/p>\n

\u2018Stupidly indiscreet\u2019<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019d say, \u2018Do the decent thing and hand the bloody stuff in\u2019.\u201d<\/p>\n

Powell has remained recklessly defiant since becoming a fugitive.<\/p>\n

When Gwent Police issued a Facebook appeal for his whereabouts last October, he replied complaining that he didn\u2019t like the mugshot they had used because he was hungover when it was taken.<\/p>\n

So how did two likely lads from South Wales<\/a> find \u2014 then seemingly lose \u2014 a fortune?<\/p>\n

The sun was poking through the clouds on June 2, 2015, when Newport handyman Powell and Pontypridd grandfather Davies set out on their hunt for treasure.<\/p>\n

Both had been bitten by the \u00addetecting bug, with Davies having previously reported more than a \u00adhundred of his finds to the National Museum of Wales in Cardiff<\/a>.<\/p>\n

It meant they were well aware of the law. Gold and silver coins and jewels more than 300 years old must be handed in.<\/p>\n

The Treasure Valuation Committee then decides what they are worth, and the amount is split, usually 50\/50 between the finder and the landowner.<\/p>\n

Those familiar with this case say it was Powell who seemed to call the shots. <\/p>\n

People who know the heavily tattooed dad-of-two describe him as a \u201ccharacter\u201d who \u201clikes a drink\u201d.<\/p>\n

\"Collage<\/a>The haul included coins from Alfred the Great’s era\"Map<\/a>Where the Viking gold was found<\/p>\n

The detectorists began combing cornfields near the picturesque hamlet of Eye, four miles outside of Leominster, Herefordshire, without asking the land owner, Lord Cawley, for permission.<\/p>\n

Unauthorised detecting is known as nighthawking. Anything found and removed could be regarded as theft.<\/p>\n

Buoyed by the popularity of sitcom Detectorists<\/a>, starring Mackenzie Crook<\/a> and Toby Jones<\/a>, 20,000 Brits now enjoy the treasure-hunting hobby.<\/p>\n

Nigel Richardson, author of The Accidental Detectorist: Uncovering An Underground Obsession, told me: \u201cIn a lot of European countries, it\u2019s illegal to metal-detect unless you are an archaeologist. The laws are much more liberal here.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s also popular because the UK \u2014 and England in particular \u2014 is so rich in old stuff in the ground.\u201d<\/p>\n

Powell and Davies were about to head home when a continuous, high-pitched whine from their devices suggested something lurking beneath the soil. Digging through the reddish earth, they saw the glint of gold.<\/p>\n

A millennia earlier, the Great Heathen Army of marauding Vikings had swept through here.<\/p>\n

At a crossroads of two ancient tracks, they buried a hoard of some 300 coins and jewels \u2014 likely looted from Anglo-Saxon strongholds \u2014 including a crystal rock pendant, a 9th Century gold ring and a dragon\u2019s head bracelet. <\/p>\n

Among the coins were some depicting \u201ctwo emperors\u201d \u2014 King Alfred of Wessex and Ceolwulf II of Mercia. <\/p>\n

They are historically important as they reveal how the two ancient kingdoms were coming together in the early stages of the formation of England.<\/p>\n

Powell and Davies were initially ignorant of the find\u2019s importance, shoving the treasure into a Tesco plastic bag.<\/p>\n

\"Mugshot<\/a><\/p>\n

5<\/p>\n

George Powell is on the runCredit: PA:Press Association\"Mugshot<\/a><\/p>\n

5<\/p>\n

Layton Davies was banged upCredit: PA:Press Association\"Mugshot<\/a><\/p>\n

5<\/p>\n

Paul Wells was found guiltyCredit: SWNS<\/p>\n

Then they made a glaring modern-day error \u2014 they plastered photos of their good fortune on the internet.<\/p>\n

Though they later removed the images, it was described by a British Museum expert as \u201cstupidly indiscreet\u201d.<\/p>\n

Powell and Davies later showed the gold and 12 of the coins to two reputable antiquities dealers.<\/p>\n

One, Paul Wells, later told police: \u201cMy eyes nearly fell out of my head.\u201d<\/p>\n

The other, Jason Sallam, was \u201cflabbergasted\u201d.<\/p>\n

Retired builder Wells later admitted that Davies asked him to \u201clook after\u201d five of the coins, worth \u00a375,000.<\/p>\n

The dealer glued them into the leather case of his magnifying glass.<\/p>\n

\n

I said to George, \u2018Do you realise this stuff could be worth hundreds of thousands of pounds, mate?
You can\u2019t sell this stuff, you can\u2019t do nothing with it<\/p>\n

Simon Wicks<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Wells also said he believed Davies would \u00adpersuade Powell to surrender the treasure.<\/p>\n

Sallam told the pair to hand the stash in, but agreed to take the items to be assessed by another coin expert, Monmouth-based Lloyd Bennett, who was also adamant they must be declared, insisting:<\/p>\n

\u201cEverything here needs to be in a museum.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sallam returned the coins to Wells and told him to pass the message on.<\/p>\n

But determined not to heed the advice, Powell approached his friend, Simon Wicks, 64, a Sussex<\/a> coin dealer and detectorist with his own previous \u00adconviction for nighthawking.<\/p>\n

At his neat flat in Hailsham, Wicks tells me he received a message reading: \u201cBoom, I found yellow.\u201d<\/p>\n

Powell sent over some photos of the gold, with Wicks revealing: \u201cI saw the images and I said, \u2018Jesus Christ, you found proper treasure\u2019.\u201d<\/p>\n

Days after the hoard was unearthed, Wicks met Powell at the Cobham services on the M25.<\/p>\n

\n

Prison is the last place I thought I\u2019d end up. I\u2019ve heard George is on the run, which is crazy. If you are out there mate, you should really hand yourself in<\/p>\n

Simon Wicks<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Wicks insists he was shown gold from the hoard \u2014 but no coins.<\/p>\n

Now working as a chef, he claimed: \u201cI said to George, \u2018Do you realise this stuff could be worth hundreds of thousands of pounds, mate?\u2019. I said, \u2018You can\u2019t sell this stuff, you can\u2019t do nothing with it. Just hand it all in\u2019.\u201d <\/p>\n

However, a week later, Wicks arrived at prestigious Mayfair auction house Noonans with seven Anglo-Saxon coins.<\/p>\n

The one-time nighthawker insists he had bought them from old friend Powell, who had vouched that his dad found them in the 1970s. The auction house retained the coins.<\/p>\n

Disappearing act<\/p>\n

Wicks would return to Noonans with a further stash of some eight coins. All were later handed to police.<\/p>\n

Today, Wicks insists: \u201cIf I thought I\u2019d done anything wrong, I wouldn\u2019t have taken them to Noonans.\u201d<\/p>\n

By now, Powell and Davies\u2019 golden haul was being gossiped about among the detectorist community. <\/p>\n

A month after their discovery, Peter Reavill \u2014 the official who deals with items found by detectorists in Herefordshire<\/a> \u2014 emailed the pair saying that if they had found something interesting they had a legal obligation to report it.<\/p>\n

Davies failed to reply, while Powell claimed he did not know what \u00adReavill was talking about.<\/p>\n

Yet days later, the pair took a golden bangle, ring and crystal orb to the Museum of Wales.<\/p>\n

Reavill alerted police<\/a> that a heritage crime may have been committed, and in August 2015 the two detectorists were arrested, along with Wicks and Wells. All four denied wrongdoing, but were convicted in 2019.<\/p>\n

After appealing their sentences, Powell was sent down for six and a half years and Davies for five years.<\/p>\n

Wells got a suspended sentence, while Wicks would eventually serve 24 months after his sentence was reduced on appeal.<\/p>\n

Yet experts believed that there were around 300 coins in the hoard, based on photos seized from Powell and \u00adDavies\u2019 phones. So where was the rest of the treasure?<\/p>\n

In 2018, 44 coins from the haul had been seized when undercover cops snared two English collectors who had been trying to sell them to an American professor. <\/p>\n

That still leaves more than 200 unaccounted for in this intriguing case highlighted in new BBC<\/a> podcast Fool\u2019s Gold.<\/p>\n

Then, at a Proceeds of Crime \u00adhearing in 2023, Powell finally \u00adadmitted finding a hoard of 51 coins, claiming he had sold 20 to Wicks then \u00adgambled away the cash.<\/p>\n

Powell and Davies were ordered to pay \u00a3600,000 each or spend five more years in jail after they served their original sentences.<\/p>\n

Last year, Davies \u2014 who cops said only repaid around half the sum \u2014 began his fresh sentence. Powell went on the run. <\/p>\n

Messaging South Wales Argus reporter Holly Morgan on Facebook<\/a>, Powell insisted he was innocent and said of his \u00adsentence: \u201cDrug dealers, rapists and other \u00adindividuals who destroy lives never get that long.\u201d<\/p>\n

Powell was eventually arrested in Edinburgh<\/a> before being released from custody in December. <\/p>\n

In January, he failed to appear at Birmingham<\/a> Magistrates Court, where he was due to be sentenced for \u00adfailing to settle his \u00a3600,000 order, and a warrant was issued for his arrest.<\/p>\n

Since then, he seems to have done a disappearing act.<\/p>\n

The judge at the men\u2019s original trial had insisted there was still \u201cunrecovered treasure\u201d from the hoard, likely \u201cworth millions of pounds\u201d.<\/p>\n

Wicks, who is subject to a \u00a3440,000 Proceeds of Crime order, said: \u201cThere probably is a load more coins, but only George knows where they are.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"WAFTING their metal detectors over rolling \u00adfarmland, George Powell and Layton Davies dreamt of striking it rich. Like…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":36761,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[2397,30,188,535,560,126,529,212,820,213,53,118,16,15,1764],"class_list":{"0":"post-36760","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-technology","8":"tag-archaeology","9":"tag-courts","10":"tag-crime","11":"tag-drugs","12":"tag-exclusives","13":"tag-features","14":"tag-police","15":"tag-print-features","16":"tag-section-newsuk-news","17":"tag-sun-club","18":"tag-technology","19":"tag-the-sun-newspaper","20":"tag-uk","21":"tag-united-kingdom","22":"tag-wales"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/114372724864041295","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36760","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=36760"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36760\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/36761"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=36760"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=36760"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=36760"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}