A detectorist who stole an estimated £3 million worth of Viking treasure has been sentenced to a further five years and three months in prison after failing to pay back over £600,000.
Layton Davies, formerly of Pontypridd, was jailed in 2019 for concealing the finding of the treasure and theft after he sold rare Viking and Anglo-Saxon coins and jewellery along with an accomplice.
Following Davies’ conviction, the CPS Proceeds of Crime Division took him to court so that the Confiscation Order could be issued under the Proceeds of Crime Act.
He was ordered to repay the £603,180 he made from selling the stolen treasures, which experts believe provided fresh information on previously unknown alliances between the ancient kings of Mercia and Wessex.
Debbie Price, Deputy Chief Crown Prosecutor of the CPS 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.
“This case shows that the CPS takes our duty to ensure crime doesn’t pay seriously. Davies has failed to pay, so we have taken him back to court and his additional default sentence means he now faces a further five years in prison.”
In the last five years, from 2018 to 2023, over £480 million has been recovered from CPS-obtained Confiscation Orders, ensuring that thousands of convicted criminals cannot profit from their offending. £105m of that amount has been returned to victims of crime by way of compensation.
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