Gardener stole gold nugget worth £16k

A gardener who stole a gold nugget which was a "treasured item" from an elderly man has been sentenced.

Leicester Crown Court heard Christopher Darlison, 42, was employed by Roger Bown, who died last year, to carry out gardening work and came to be viewed "almost as another son".

However, prosecutor Damian Warburton said in July 2025, Darlison took a gold nugget from Bown's property - and sold it at a jewellers for £15,000 in cash.

On Thursday, Judge Ebrahim Mooncey handed Darlison of Briargate Drive, Birstall, Leicestershire, a 12-month prison sentence suspended for two years.

Darlison - who pleaded guilty to one count of theft at Leicester Magistrates' Court on 1 April - was also ordered to complete 100 hours of unpaid work, and pay compensation of £4,500 to Bown's son.

Warburton, prosecuting the case, said the item had a value of at least £16,000 due to its weight, however the victim's family believed it had a value "ten times" this due to its "unusual shape".

The court heard when the nugget was found to be missing, Darlison claimed he had sent the nugget for professional cleaning.

However, he later returned to the jewellers he sold the gold to, in a bid to retrieve the item, but was told it had been sent for melting.

In a victim impact statement, Roger Bown's son said Darlison "violated" the trust his father had in him in the "most callous way imaginable".

"The theft devastated my father in a way that cannot be adequately represented by words," he said.

He added the "psychological torment" caused to his father by the theft was "unbearable" and said: "My father died before he could see justice done".

In defence, James Varley said Darlison was "deeply ashamed" of his actions and had had a "horrific fall from grace".

Varley told the court Darlison was not someone who stole because he wanted "shiny things", but he had a gambling problem and the nugget was stolen to repay a debt to individuals Judge Mooncey described as "unsavoury people".

He added Darlison was a "hard working man", who had raised a family and had now taken out "all the stops" to prevent him from gambling.

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