METAL detectorists George Powell and Layton Davies have been convicted of stealing a £3 million hoard of Viking coins and jewellery - much of which is still missing.

Both men were found guilty of the theft after failing to declare the "invaluable" collection of buried treasure dating back 1,100 years to the reign of King Alfred the Great, then conspiring to sell it on.

Prosecutors had alleged the items, typical of a Viking hoard burial from the Anglo-Saxon period, were dug up on farmland near Leominster on June 2, 2015.

Only some jewellery items and 31 of the coins have been recovered, although mobile phone photographs - later deleted, but recovered by police - showed the larger hoard, still intact, in a freshly dug hole.

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Powell and Davies were also convicted alongside two other men at Worcester Crown Court, 60-year-old Paul Wells and Simon Wicks, 57, with conspiring to conceal the find.

Wicks, Powell and Davies were also found guilty of converting their ill-gotten gains into cash, after police traced several coins that had been sold on to private collectors, hidden away, or left with expert valuers.

Five of the coins were found stitched into the leather case of a magnifying glass and later volunteered to officers by Wells when they turned up at his home.

Expert analysis of all the jewellery and coinage recovered to date and now held at the British Museum, returned a valuation of at least GBP581,000.

As to the fate of the rest of the coins and items in the hoard, prosecuting barrister Kevin Hegarty QC told jurors: "They have not been found.

"They must be concealed in one or more places or by now having been concealed have been dispersed never to be reassembled as a hoard of such coinage again."

Powell, of Kirby Lane, Newport; Davies, of Cardiff Road, Pontypridd; Wells, of Newport Road, Cardiff, and Wicks, of Hawks Road, Hailsham, East Sussex, will be sentenced at a later date.

How West Mercia Police investigates the case

West Mercia Police was alerted to the possibility of an unreported large treasure find by various reports from the metal detecting community and the British Museum.

A find such as this should be reported to the local coroner’s office, in this case Herefordshire, under the terms of the Treasure Act (1996).

During the investigation, which began in June 2015, Herefordshire detectives unearthed that Powell and Davies had visited the site at which the hoard, including Anglo-Saxon coins, jewellery and silver ingots, was found earlier that month (June 2015).

The treasure is described as of national importance both for Anglo-Saxon coinage and for the wider understanding of a key period in English history.

Herefordshire local policing commander Superintendent Sue Thomas said: This has been a lengthy and detailed investigation that I am pleased to see has resulted in four men being found guilty of the crimes and we await sentencing tomorrow.”

She continued: “I hope the result from this trial demonstrates to the metal detecting community we take this sort of crime very seriously. It is a criminal offence to not declare finds of treasure to the local coroner’s office.”

Detective Constable Nigel Cleeton, investigating officer for the operation, said: “In all my policing years of service this is the most unusual investigation I have been involved in.

"We have had archaeologist advisers from Herefordshire County Council’s conservation and environment team, the British Museum and a plethora of experts to help identify items.”

He continued: “We believe there are coins outstanding and would appeal to anyone that may have come across these items or has any information to get in touch via 101.”