In the eyes of ordinary people, the word "treasure hunting" is very far away from real life and usually only exists in novels or movies.
However, there are two brothers from the UK. really succeeded in "treasure hunting" a few years ago and dug up treasures that were thousands of years old.
However, their ending is not like the story: they are famous all over the world and rich, but
ended up in jail for this, and now they have to pay a huge fine.
In the spring of 2015, 34-year-old George Powell and 47-year-old Layton Davies went to Eye in Herefordshire with metal detection equipment. Nuggets at Court Farm,
(left: Davis, right: Powell)
Both of them are experienced players with rich detection experience. Without much effort, they dug up a bag of ancient treasures.
The process went so smoothly that even they themselves found it incredible.
Among the treasures are a gold ring from the 9th century AD, a crystal pendant dating back to about 600 AD, a gold bracelet with a dragon head and a silver ingot, as well as about 300 coins.
These coins also have a long history, most of which were minted during the reign of Alfred the Great (about 849-899 AD).
A series of priceless treasures were in front of them. Powell and Davis suddenly lost their minds.
They hurriedly took away all the treasures and packaged the coins at a highway service station for 20,000 pounds and sold them to an antique dealer, for fear of something going wrong on the road.
After that, they sold many items on the black market in batches, and
the huge sums of money obtained were spent in the casino.
However, these items are not "just people". They have been buried underground for more than a thousand years and have an unparalleled status in the British archaeological community.
Experts speculate that these coins were buried by a Viking . This provides a new perspective on the history of the unification of England. There may be an alliance between the Kingdom of Mercia and the Kingdom of Wessex that was not thought to exist before.
However, these gold diggers people hurriedly sold the treasure because of temporary gains,
so that the matter was exposed. After Powell and Davis were arrested,
the judge used "greed and selfishness" to describe what they did.
In November 2019, the two men were found guilty of multiple crimes including theft, hiding and selling treasures.
Powell, who was originally working as a warehouse worker in Newport, south Wales, was sentenced to six and a half years in prison.
Davies, a school janitor from Pontypridd, was sentenced to five years in prison.
The funny thing is that if they had not rushed to sell the treasure at that time, but turned it over to the state, they would have received huge rewards.
British law stipulates that the discovery of a treasure must be declared in accordance with the law.
If the treasure is later sold, the money sold will be divided equally between the land owner and the treasure finder.
In this case, if the declaration is only made through legal means, even if the treasure is not sold, Powell and Davis will receive an income of 500,000 pounds each.
However, they ignored the law and neither reported the treasure to the state nor informed the owner of Eye Court Farm.
Instead, they quickly realized the windfall and sold it to many antique dealers, resulting in the disappearance of these precious cultural relics.
So far, the police have only recovered some jewelry and about 30 coins from various buyers. Most of the remaining treasures are still missing.
According to the British Museum's valuation, each coin is worth Between 10,000 and 50,000 pounds,
Even if calculated at the lowest value, and accounting for 10% loss, the missing 270 coins are worth at least 2.4 million pounds.
Plus other lost treasures, Powell and Davis brought at least 3 million pounds to the UK.
According to the latest trial results,
the two must pay huge fines-Davis was required to pay 603,180 pounds, and Powell was required to pay 601,250 pounds, and must be paid before March 21, 2023.
If they fail to pay on time, they will continue to serve an additional five years and four months in prison on top of their existing sentences.
The local police officer is very satisfied with the verdict. Seven years of hard work has finally come to a successful conclusion.
The combination of imprisonment and confiscation order sends a strong and clear signal that they take this type of crime very seriously and will take resolute action.
But in the opinion of netizens, the sentences of these two people are too harsh:
"I think it is a bit heavy."
"Stealing money from the government will be punished by law Comprehensive sanctions. However, stealing money from ordinary people, or assassinating them on the street, will only result in a 6-month suspended sentence."
"Again, crimes against the state will be punished, but crimes against the people will not be punished."
"You will be sentenced to 6 and a half years in prison if you do this, but if you carry a knife and a gun, you will only be sentenced to 5 years... There is a reason why this country is what it is now."
"Will it take the police 7 years to investigate this thing?"
"If you rob and kill, you won't get such punishment, but if you steal from the government, just wait! Where have all those hypocritical and weak judges gone?"
So what do you think about this?
