'Hand yourself in' ex-antiques dealer tells accomplice who helped steal £12m of 'cursed' Anglo-Saxon treasure

Simon Wicks helped two amateur metal detectorists flog their findings on the black market in 2015 before being sentenced in 2019 for conspiring to conceal the treasure.

A former antiques dealer who helped steal £12million worth of ‘cursed’ Anglo-Saxon treasure has told his accomplice to ‘hand himself in’ after spending five years in prison.

Simon Wicks helped two amateur metal detectorists flog their findings on the black market in 2015 before being sentenced in 2019 for conspiring to conceal the treasure.

The coin collector turned criminal told The Sun 'these coins have been a curse from the day they were found. Prison is the last place I thought I’d end up in life'.

A ninth-century gold ring, a dragon's head bracelet, a silver ingot, a fifth crystal rock pendant and up to 300 coins, some from the reign of King Alfred, were part of the historic collection which led to the downfall of Wicks's life - as well as his conspirators.

George Powell, 44, and Layton Davies, 56, found the invaluable stash in Eye, near Leominster, Herefordshire before enlisting Wicks's expertise to sell them illegally instead of declaring the findings.

But Powell has been on the run since January after failing to appear at Birmingham Magistrates Court to repay £600,000 at his sentencing hearing.

He was jailed for six-and-a-half years for the theft while Davies is currently serving an extra five years and three months in jail for failing to pay the value of his share of the missing treasure.

Wicks said it was "crazy" his pal was on the run and admitted "I wish I could speak to him and talk some sense into him".

Simon Wicks who helped steal £12million worth of 'cursed' Anglo-Saxon treasure has told his accomplice to 'hand himself in' after spending five years in prison

Simon Wicks (centre) helped two amateur metal detectorists - George Powell (left) and Layton Davies (right) flog their findings on the black market in 2015 (pictured here in 2019)

Only 31 of the coins - worth between £10,000 and £50,000 - and pieces of jewellery discovered at farmland in Eye, near Leominster, Herefordshire, have ever been recovered, with the majority of the hoard still missing

Powell spent some time behind bars but became a fugitive after he failed to fulfil the repayment order - Davies was put behind bars again for failing to pay his half.

Still brazenly toying with the law, when Gwent Police posted a picture of Powell on their Facebook appealing to his whereabouts, the treasure-hunter commented that he didn't like the image they used because he was hungover when it was taken.

If Wicks could pass anything on to the flagrant runaway it would be to 'do the decent thing and hand the bloody stuff in'.

Only three coins have ever been handed over by Powell while another 31 coins and pieces of jewellery - worth between £10,000 and £50,000 - have been recovered.

Some 200 items of the hoard are still missing.

Powell and Davies were illegally trespassing on farmland - in what is known as nighthawking - when the collection was first discovered.

Unaware of the treasure's significance, they posted about their findings online but when experts began to advise them to report their findings as required by law they nonsensically denied they came across it.

The British Museum described their efforts to quickly delete the photos as "stupidly indiscreet".

Historians believe the coins were of Anglo-Saxon origin and had been hidden by a Viking

The treasure thieves tried to flog items in small batches to various customers on the black market instead of reporting the discovery

A judge said the treasure-hunters had 'cheated the public' by concealing the treasure - like this silver ingot - which 'belonged to the nation'

Despite Wicks alleging that he told Powell to hand in the treasure that he estimated was worth hundreds of thousands of pounds he was soon at the Mayfair auction house Noonans with seven coins.

He told the auctioneers they were found in his dad's attic and returned with another eight - these were later handed to police.

Wicks - who now works as a chef - said he thinks there are still a large number of coins to find but would only be known to Powell.

The pair were finally arrested when they tried to declare some of the treasure to a museum, not before shadily trying to pass them around antiques dealers and collectors.

Sentencing at the time, Judge Nicholas Cartwright said they had "cheated the public" by concealing the treasure which "belonged to the nation."

He said: "You acted in a way which was greedy and selfish.

"You clumsily dug out everything