Two metal detectorists have been jailed for more than five years after being found guilty of hatching a plot to illegally sell Anglo-Saxon coins of “immense historical significance” abroad.
Craig Best, 46, and Roger Pilling, 75, had been convicted of conspiring to sell criminal property worth ?766,000 – namely, ninth-century coins believed to have been buried by a Viking and which have never been declared as treasure, or handed to the crown.
They were sentenced at Durham crown court on Thursday, where they were also convicted on separate charges of possessing the criminal property, which was thought to be part of a larger, undeclared find known as the Herefordshire hoard.
More details soon …