Two men jailed for £500k coin burglary

Two men have been jailed for their part in a burglary which saw £500,000 worth of rare coins stolen from a property in Abthorpe. 

Between January and March last year, Clinton David Barry Bowen, aged 43, and Albert Johnson, aged 40, hatched a plan, alongside other co-conspirators, to burgle the house of a coin dealer.

In order for the plan to be successful, they needed to find out where he lived so a member of the gang arranged a meeting with the victim on the pretence of wanting to sell him a private coin collection.

Bowen attended the meeting at a Costa Coffee in Banbury, selling the man eight gold sovereigns for cash in order to appear legitimate and arranging a follow-up meeting in order for “a larger collection to be valued”.

Whilst Bowen distracted the victim, another one of the gang placed a tracker on his car in order to ascertain where he lived. 

Then, two weeks later, on the night of March 10, 2024, four masked burglars broke into the coin dealer’s house while he and his wife slept upstairs, and stole £500,000 worth of coins, including the eight gold sovereigns Bowen had sold to him.

The victim, who was woken up by the commotion inside his house, bravely pursued them, attempting to stop the gang’s stolen getaway car before one of them stabbed him in the leg, causing him to back off. 

The burglars, who had removed the tracker from the man’s car, escaped, but not before the victim had made a mental note of the number plate. 

An investigation was launched by Northamptonshire Police and a number of people were arrested.

Bowen, previously of Ironbridge Road, Gloucester, was charged with conspiracy to commit burglary. He was found guilty after a 10-day trial at Gloucester Crown Court which ended on February 14, this year. 

Johnson, previously of Moors Avenue, Cheltenham, was also charged with conspiracy to commit burglary. He pleaded guilty to the same offence on January 30. 

A third man, aged 46, charged with conspiracy to commit burglary, was found not guilty following a trial. 

Both Bowen and Johnson were sentenced earlier this month (March 14). Bowen was handed seven years and six months in prison with Johnson sentenced to six years and four months in prison. 

Bowen, who had been in attendance at court until the penultimate day of the trial has since absconded and a warrant has been issued for his arrest. He was sentenced in his absence.

The rare coins that were stolen have sadly never been recovered and investigations into their whereabouts continue.

Detective Inspector Nick Peters said: “This burglary has had a devastating effect on the victims in this case who have had to sell their home, not only for financial reasons but because they no longer felt safe inside it.

“Although they will unfortunately never forget that night in March last year, I hope these sentences offer them some comfort.

“Both Bowen and Johnson have shown no remorse throughout these proceedings, so I am pleased to see them both handed these prison sentences. We are all certainly a little bit safer with them behind bars.”

Photo (from l to r): Albert Johnson, Clinton Bowen.