A SOUTH SHROPSHIRE woman who was convicted of failing to report treasure in the first case of its kind in the UK is to face a retrial over the find.

Kate Harding, 23, had previously admitted failing to notify the coroner that she had found the silver coin dating from the 1300s which she had owned since childhood.

However, magistrates in Ludlow today ordered a re-trial after they found Harding’s original plea to be ambiguous.

During today’s hearing Harding, of Church Walk, Ludlow, entered a not guilty plea to the find of the coin, which was identified as a rare 14th century piedfort.

In February, magistrates ordered the coin be handed over and Harding was given a conditional discharge and told to pay £25 towards the £300 court costs.

Harding had failed to report the find to the south Shropshire coroner within 14 days under the 1996 Treasure Act.

Discovery

But Ludlow Magistrates today agreed that the original plea was equivocal on the basis that she was only nine years old when the artefact came into her possession.

Mr Brendan Reedy, for Harding, successfully applied for the case to be reconsidered. He said it was believed the discovery of the coin pre-dated the Treasure Act, under which a person who finds an object they believe is treasure must notify the coroner.

Magistrates said the case will now go before Ludlow Magistrates’ Court for a pre-trial review on July 8.

At the original hearing, magistrates heard Harding had been given the coin by her mother when she was just nine years old, and her mother had died soon afterwards.

The artefact, found in a garden in Tenbury Wells years ago, was said to be of great sentimental value to the defendant.

During the original case Mr Rob Edwards, prosecuting, said that Harding visited Ludlow Museum in January 2009 with the artefact and spoke to expert, Peter Reavill.

After establishing what it was, Mr Reavill wrote to Harding and told her she must report the find to the coroner within 14 days under the 1996 Treasure Act.

The court heard Harding failed to respond to calls and missed several appointments to meet Mr Reavill. He informed the coroner who in turn called the police.

By Sophie Bignall