Coin hoard plotters lose prison release appeal

Two metal detectorists who planned to "delete history" by illegally selling Anglo-Saxon coins have had appeals to reduce their prison sentences dismissed.

Roger Pilling, 76, and Craig Best, 48, were convicted of conspiring to sell 44 ninth century coins worth £766,000 and jailed for five years and two months at Durham Crown Court in May 2023.

On Wednesday, the pair asked the Court of Appeal to reduce their sentences, with lawyers for Best telling judges the sentence was "manifestly excessive".

But three judges dismissed the appeal, with Mr Justice Murray stating the plan "would have significantly diluted the nation's shared history" had it succeeded.

The men attempted to sell the coins to an undercover police officer they believed was a US buyer.

Best, previously of Bishop Auckland, County Durham, was arrested with three coins at a Durham hotel in May 2019 in a police sting operation.

Pilling was arrested at his home in Loveclough, Lancashire, with a further 41 coins seized.

The two men were later convicted of conspiracy to convert criminal property and a separate charge of possession of criminal property.

The trial in 2023 was told Pilling had acquired the collection on the black market.

The coins, which were never declared as treasure, were estimated to have been made between 874 CE and 879 CE.

They were believed to have been buried by a Viking and included two extremely rare two-headed coins.

The sentencing judge found the 44 coins were part of a larger, undeclared find known as the Herefordshire or Leominster Hoard, discovered in 2015 and is worth millions of pounds but also not declared.

Chris Morrison, representing Best in the appeal, said his client was "approached" by Pilling to sell the items and became the "de facto agent of the sale".

He said: "I concede immediately that this is serious misconduct and it is clear this court regards it as such.

"But it is my submission that, when one perhaps considers the matter, the sentence in relation to my client may be too high."

Pilling, who represented himself, made written submissions to the court but did not attend the hearing.

The court heard Pilling claimed "sufficient regard to his mitigation, his age, medical condition and being dependable on his wife" was not taken into account when he was sentenced.

Dismissing the appeal bids, Mr Justice Murray, sitting with Lord Justice William Davis and Judge Shaun Smith KC, said the pair "hatched a plan to sell the coins" to buyers in the US because "they knew the coins could not be safely sold in the UK to a legitimate dealer".

The judge said the three items Best and Pilling had planned to sell included "one coin that rewrites the history of King Alfred and the little-known King of Mercia".

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