Viking hoard thief jailed for five more years

Layton Davies was metal detecting in a field in Herefordshire when he came across £3m worth of Viking treasure

A metal detectorist who stole about £3m worth of Viking treasure has been sentenced to a further five years and three months in prison after failing to pay back more than £600,000.

Layton Davies, formerly of Pontypridd, Rhondda Cynon Taf, was jailed in 2019 for concealing the finding of the treasure in a field in Herefordshire and theft after he sold rare Viking and Anglo-Saxon coins and jewellery along with an accomplice.

The 56-year-old was ordered to repay the £603,180 he made from selling the stolen treasures.

Experts believed the items he found provided fresh information on previously unknown alliances between the ancient kings of Mercia and Wessex.

The hoard included about 300 Viking coins

His accomplice's request to appeal his sentence was refused, and Davies failed to pay back the money he owed.

Debbie Price, deputy chief prosecutor of the Crown Prosecution Service’s proceeds of crime division, said: “Greed led Layton Davies to ignore his duty to report the found treasure and instead sell it for his own benefit.

“An experienced detectorist, Davies would have known he was entitled to half of the proceeds of legal sale of the treasure, instead choosing to deprive the landowner and public by stealing this exceptional and significant treasure.”

Between 2018 to 2023, more than £480m has been recovered from CPS-obtained confiscation orders, with £105m returned to victims of crime.