The victim, who has since died, had trusted him to help himself to some cash for gardening work carried out
15:14, 01 Apr 2026
Darlison appeared at Leicester Magistrates’ Court(Image: LDRS)
An elderly man had a prized gold nugget worth more than £15,000 stolen from him by a trusted gardener.
Christopher Darlison, 42, had met victim Roger Bown while working at a golf course and Mr Bown asked Darlison to do gardening work for him at his home in Beeby, near Leicester.
Last summer, Mr Bown, aged 86, paid Darlison some money from an ice cream tub in his kitchen cupboard where he also kept the 7oz gold nugget, which he had mined himself from a gold mine in Australia in 2004.
The next time Darlison carried out some work for Mr Bown, the victim, who has since died, invited Darlison to help himself to the money he was owed from the ice cream tub and Darlison also stole the gold, which the victim believed to be worth up to £200,000.
At Leicester Magistrates’ Court on Wednesday, Darlison, of Briargate Drive, Birstall, pleaded guilty to theft.
After stealing the gold nugget, Darlison had taken it to a Belgrave Road jeweller in Leicester and sold it for £15,300 in cash.
Some time later, after he was first confronted by Mr Bown about the theft, Darlison returned to the jeweller to buy the nugget back but was told it had been melted down and sold.
Prosecutor Eleanor Watson said Mr Bown believed that due to it being naturally shaped like a sunfish, the nugget could be worth up to £200,000.
Ms Watson said: “He believed it was worth 10 times its weight due to its unusual shape.
“Mr Bown went to the tub on July 6 and it was not there. Only he, his son and the defendant knew where it was.”
She said Mr Bown had known Darlison for about 18 months and that when he first confronted Darlison he said he would get it back and also paid Mr Bown £150 to apologise. But after the nugget was not returned, Mr Bown’s son contacted Leicestershire Police.
Officers collected CCTV from the Belgrave Road jewellers that showed the defendant was indeed the man who had sold the nugget and later tried to buy it back.
Abigail Wright, representing Darlison, commented on the seriousness of the theft and whether the case should go to Leicester Crown Court or be sentenced by the magistrates.
She said: “I concede he was invited into the home of an elderly victim and invited to pay himself out of the ice cream tub.
“But there wasn’t any planning involved.”
The magistrates decided to send the case to the crown court, where Darlison is due to appear on Wednesday, April 29.
He was released on bail with conditions not to enter Mr Bown’s former street in Beeby or contact Mr Bown’s son.
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