A 37-year-old man has been jailed after he was found possessing stolen archaeological artefacts.

The Canterbury Archaeological Trust (CAT) was ransacked in January last year - with Roman bone hairpins and fragments of Anglo-Saxon combs being among the precious items to be pinched.

Police arrested Raymond Roberts on Sunday, March 25 in connection with handling the stolen items.

Charged with two counts of handling stolen goods and one count of theft of metal cladding, Roberts admitted the charges against him when he appeared before Canterbury Crown Court.

He was sentenced to five months behind bars.

Investigating officer, PC Kieran Doble said: "The importance of the items stolen should not be underestimated.

"They provide us with a rare insight into the past, and the items held by the Canterbury Archaeological Trust were the result of many, many careful hours’ work.

"Roberts was found with some of the stolen items, but without the context of the correct archive and cataloguing, I understand it will be hard for the trust to determine what each recovered item is and which age it originates from."

Officers originally located Roberts on March 19 after an alarm was activated at a business in Sturry Road.

As he was approached, he ran away but police caught him and made the arrest.

He was found to be in possession of a collection of archaeological artefacts that had been stolen in the CAT burglary in January 2018.

Following a police interview, he was released under investigation before being arrested again six days later.

PC Doble continued: "Some of the stolen items remain outstanding, including a number of coins, and we ask that anyone who believes they might have information about their whereabouts, contacts Kent Police on 01843 222289 quoting 46/ZY/4200/18."

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