Two metal detectorists who hatched an illegal plot to sell Anglo-Saxon coins worth more than £750,000 overseas are facing jail.
Craig Best, 46, and Roger Pilling, 75, were convicted of conspiring to sell criminal property, namely ninth century coins believed to have been buried by a Viking.
The items, worth £766,000 and which are of “immense historical significance”, have never been declared as Treasure and have not been handed to the Crown.
Jurors at Durham Crown Court also convicted both men of separate charges of possessing criminal property, thought to be part of a larger trove of 300 coins worth millions of pounds known as the Herefordshire Hoard.
Just one third of the collection, unearthed in Leominster, has been recovered.
Best, of Bishop Auckland, was arrested with three coins at a hotel in Durham in May 2019, as part of a police sting.
He believed he was meeting a metals expert, hired by a broker working for a wealthy US buyer – but in fact, he was speaking to an undercover detective.
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Pilling, who ran an engineering company, was arrested at his home in Loveclough, Lancashire, where a further 41 coins were seized.
These 44 coins are thought to have originated from the Herefordshire Hoard, a find worth millions of pounds, which was discovered in 2015.
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Four others have already been convicted for their roles in concealing the find – including George Powell, 41, and Layton Davies, 54, who were jailed for more than 18 years at Worcester Crown Court in November 2019.
The police launched an undercover operation after Best tried to sell coins to a genuine American collector, who contacted UK-based experts about the availability of extremely rare and valuable examples – before the authorities were notified.
Best and Pilling were charged in August 2021 and stood trial this month.
Judge James Adkin adjourned the case, telling the defendants that the sentencing would be “complicated” due to the rarity of the offences.
He remanded both men in custody, saying: “You have both been convicted of what I consider to be compelling acts of serious criminality, in relation to these artefacts.
“You are both aware of what the sentence is likely to be, imprisonment for years.”
Image: The ninth century coins are thought to have been buried by a Viking. Pic: Durham Police
Coins will ‘transform’ our understanding of history
The coins are thought to have been made between 874 and 879 CE and include two extremely rare examples of two-headed coins, depicting King Alfred of Wessex, known as Alfred the Great, and the last Mercian king, Ceolwulf II – a figure discredited by Saxon writers as a Viking puppet ruler.
Experts believe the coins indicate Alfred must have had an alliance with Ceolwulf – before he was largely erased from the history books by Alfred’s court.
Image: A coin in Craig Best’s possession when he was arrested. Pic: Durham Police
The Mercian ruler disappeared from history in 879 CE, with Alfred inexplicably recorded as ruling a large part of Ceolwulf’s kingdom.
The find casts doubt on the popular belief that Alfred the Great saved England almost single-handedly from the Vikings.
Dr Gareth Williams, curator of the Early Medieval Coins and Viking Collections at the British Museum, said the coins were “very much part of our heritage” and had “transformed our knowledge and understanding” of late ninth century politics.
“The coins show beyond any possible doubt that there was a political and economic alliance between Alfred and Ceolwulf II.
“Together, the two kings carried out a major reform of the coinage, introducing high-quality silver coins, with the Two Emperors design symbolising this alliance, followed by a second joint coinage.
“As more coins emerge, it is clear this monetary alliance lasted for some years,” Dr Williams added.
“The theft of finds like this are not just a theft from the landowner, who [has] rights, it is a theft of our heritage.
Following the conviction, Durham Constabulary’s Detective Superintendent Lee Gosling said the investigation had been “lengthy and complex”, adding: “It is astonishing the history books need re-writing because of this find.
“The coins come from a hoard of immense historical significance relating to the Vikings and we are delighted that they are now with the British Museum.”
Image: Liverpool’s captain Virgil van Dijk. Pic: Reuters
Image: Liverpool’s Ryan Gravenberch and Cody Gakpo (right) arrive at the funeral of Diogo Jota and Andre Silva. Pic: PA
Jota, 28, leaves behind his wife of only 11 days, Rute Cardoso, and three young children.
His younger brother, 25, was an attacking midfielder for Penafiel in the second tier of Portuguese football.
Liverpool manager Arne Slot, captain Virgil Van Dijk and teammates including Andy Robertson, Conor Bradley, Ryan Gravenberch, Cody Gakpo, Curtis Jones, Darwin Nunez and Joe Gomez were seen at the service.
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Former teammates Jordan Henderson, James Milner and Fabinho were also there.
Van Dijk carried a red wreath with Jota’s number 20, while Robertson had a wreath featuring number 30, Silva’s number at Penafiel.
Image: Manchester United and Portugal player Bruno Fernandes. Pic: PA
Image: Liverpool’s captain Virgil van Dijk and Liverpool’s player Andrew Robertson. Pic: Reuters
Some of Jota’s teammates in the Portuguese national side also attended, including Bruno Fernandes, of Manchester United, Ruben Dias and Bernardo Silva, of Manchester City, Joao Felix and Renato Veiga, of Chelsea, Nelson Semedo, from Wolves, Joao Moutinho and Rui Patricio.
Ruben Neves was one of the pallbearers after flying in from Florida where he played for Al Hilal in the Club World Cup quarter-final on Friday night.
‘More than a friend’
In a post published on Instagram before the service, he told Jota he had been “more than a friend, we’re family, and we won’t stop being that way just because you’ve decided to sign a contract a little further away from us!”
Jota’s fellow Liverpool midfielder, Alexis Mac Allister, said on Instagram: “I can’t believe it. I’ll always remember your smiles, your anger, your intelligence, your camaraderie, and everything that made you a person. It hurts so much; we’ll miss you. Rest in peace, dear Diogo.”
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Porto FC president Andre Villas-Boas and Portugal national team manager Roberto Martinez were also in attendance.
‘With us forever’
Speaking after the ceremony, Martinez said the period since their deaths had been “really, really sad days, as you can imagine, but today we showed we are a large, close family.
“Their spirit will be with us forever.”
The service was private, but the words spoken by the Bishop of Porto, Manuel Linda, were broadcast to those standing outside the church.
He told Jota’s children, who were not at the service, that he was praying for them specifically, as well as their mother and grandparents.
“There are no words, but there are feelings,” he said, adding: “We also suffer a lot and we are with you emotionally.”
The brothers died after a Lamborghini they were travelling in burst into flames following a suspected tyre blowout in the early hours of Thursday morning.
No other vehicles are said to have been involved in the incident.
Liverpool have delayed the return of their players for pre-season following Jota’s death and players past and present paid tribute to him and his brother on social media.
Rachel Reeves has hinted that taxes are likely to be raised this autumn after a major U-turn on the government’s controversial welfare bill.
Sir Keir Starmer’s Universal Credit and Personal Independent Payment Bill passed through the House of Commons on Tuesday after multiple concessions and threats of a major rebellion.
MPs ended up voting for only one part of the plan: a cut to universal credit (UC) sickness benefits for new claimants from £97 a week to £50 from 2026/7.
Initially aimed at saving £5.5bn, it now leaves the government with an estimated £5.5bn black hole – close to breaching Ms Reeves’s fiscal rules set out last year.
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Rachel Reeves’s fiscal dilemma
In an interview with The Guardian, the chancellor did not rule out tax rises later in the year, saying there were “costs” to watering down the welfare bill.
“I’m not going to [rule out tax rises], because it would be irresponsible for a chancellor to do that,” Ms Reeves told the outlet.
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“We took the decisions last year to draw a line under unfunded commitments and economic mismanagement.
“So we’ll never have to do something like that again. But there are costs to what happened.”
Meanwhile, The Times reported that, ahead of the Commons vote on the welfare bill, Ms Reeves told cabinet ministers the decision to offer concessions would mean taxes would have to be raised.
The outlet reported that the chancellor said the tax rises would be smaller than those announced in the 2024 budget, but that she is expected to have to raise tens of billions more.
Sir Keir did not explicitly say that she would, and Ms Badenoch interjected to say: “How awful for the chancellor that he couldn’t confirm that she would stay in place.”
In her first comments after the incident, Ms Reeves said she was having a “tough day” before adding: “People saw I was upset, but that was yesterday.
“Today’s a new day and I’m just cracking on with the job.”
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“In PMQs, it is bang, bang, bang,” he said. “That’s what it was yesterday.
“And therefore, I was probably the last to appreciate anything else going on in the chamber, and that’s just a straightforward human explanation, common sense explanation.”
The family and friends of Diogo Jota and his brother Andre Silva have been joined by Liverpool stars past and present and other Portuguese players at the pair’s funeral near Porto.
Pictures below show the funeral at the Igreja Matriz de Gondomar church in the town of Gondomar near Porto. Click here for our liveblog coverage of the day’s events.
Image: Diogo Jota’s wife Rute Cardoso arrives for the funeral of him and his brother Andre Silva. Pic: Reuters
Image: Liverpool players Virgil van Dijk and Andrew Robertson arrive for the funeral. Pic: Reuters
Image: Van Dijk carried a wreath with Jota’s number 20 while Andrew Robertson’s had a 30 for Andre Silva. Pic: Reuters
Image: Liverpool captain Virgil van Dijk. Pic: Reuters
Image: Portugal player Ruben Neves arrives at the funeral. Pic: PA
Image: Liverpool’s Joe Gomez and manager Arne Slot arrive at the funeral of Diogo Jota and Andre Silva. Pic; PA
Image: Liverpool’s Ryan Gravenberch and Cody Gakpo (right) arrive at the funeral of Diogo Jota and Andre Silva
Image: Manchester City and Portugal player Bernardo Silva arrives at the funeral. Pic: AP
Image: The coffins are carried to the church. Pic: PA
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2:27
Miguell Rocha played with Jota for around ten years with Gondomar Sport Clube in Portugal.
Image: People line up to enter the church. Pic: AP
Image: Pallbearers carry the coffins of Diogo Jota and his brother Andre Silva
Image: Pic: Reuters
Image: Pic: AP
Image: People gather outside the Chapel of the Resurrection. Pic: Reuters
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The former captain was seen wiping away tears as he read messages and laid his tribute down.
Image: Fans pay their respects outside Anfield in Liverpool. Pic: Reuters
Image: A board with a picture of Diogo Jota outside Anfield Stadium. Pic: PA
Image: The coffins are carried to the church. Pic: PA