Bloke Caught Out in Dishonest Reporting of Finds, including Veterans' Rally Haul

          Jason Massey's Detecting for Veterans         

I think this happens a lot in the UK, just the arkies really do not bother in checking what the tekkie says about where a find came from - just accepting it in good faith. So the data hygiene of their records (like the PAS database) is very suspect. After a number of other cases, we have this example of lack of due diligence.  A 54-year-old British metal detectorist has pleaded guilty to four fraud charges relating to artefacts submitted to the county Finds Officer. Price pleaded guilty to four charges of fraud at Lincoln Crown Court on Thursday (Grantham man admits fraud at Lincoln Crown Court over “historical” artefacts he submitted to Lincolnshire County Council - including now (in)famous Leasingham horse brooch Lincs Online Reporter, 11 September 2025). 

According to the BBC ('Metal detectorist admits fraud over historic finds', BBC 11 September 2025)

A man has admitted four charges of fraud after he claimed to have found historic artefacts while metal detecting. Jason Price, 54, of Purcell Close, Grantham, was summoned to court following a police investigation into items that were submitted to the Finds Officer at Lincolnshire County Council between September 2019 and August 2023. 
The items included a brooch, Roman coins and figurines, which Price claimed to have found while metal detecting in the Roxholm and Long Bennington areas.

The distances involved are between 12 and 17 km.  According to the BBC: 'the BBC (11 September 2025), 

The Finds Officer found something suspicious about the sudden rash of “artifacts,” and so contacted local authorities. Following an investigation, it was determined that the artifacts were not actually found by Price. It’s unclear how he came into possession of the artifacts. Price, a native of Purcell Close, in Grantham, was then summoned to Lincoln Crown Court on Sept. 11. There, he was charged with four counts of fraud; Price pleaded guilty to each.

A sentence and “trial of facts” has been set for Nov. 7, 2024.

Interestingly, the contested items included the high-profile “Leasingham Horse” brooch claimed to have been found on a "Detecting for Veterans" rally - but now apparently not (see ''Detecting for Veterans' Leasingham Rally Find Acquired by Museum' PACHI May 13 2023). The PAS database record for this find (which readers may recall I suggest was 'seeded' somehow [see here too] was pretty extensive (all that work for nothing, eh Lisa? Should have verified the provenance FIRST - what a waste of public money)

Unavailable record: LIN-09AF6A
Object type: BROOCH
Broad period: ROMAN
Institution responsible: LIN
Workflow stage: Quarantine Find in quarantine
Relevant FLOs
Lisa Brundle
Created: 5 years ago
Last updated: About one year ago
This record is currently unavailable to view for your access levels. Please contact the relevant FLO to gain access.

So this have been going on undetected (pun not intended) since 2019, and only now are British archaeologists reconsidering those records. Time, maybe to review those "data" gathering procedures.