A Dutch court has sentenced three men to prison terms for their roles in the theft of a 2,500-year-old golden helmet from the Drents Museum in Assen. The helmet, known as the ‘Golden Helmet of Coțofenești’, was stolen in a pre-dawn raid on 25 January 2025. The trio, identified as Petrisor Popescu, 34, Ionut Dumitrescu, 29, and Vasile Marin, 42, were convicted of aggravated theft and handling stolen goods.
Popescu received a six-year sentence, Dumitrescu four years, and Marin three years. The helmet, valued at €5.8 million, was recovered in March 2025 following a joint investigation by Dutch and Romanian police, with assistance from the British Art Loss Register.
The recovery network, which includes British investigators and auction houses, was praised by the court for its role in tracing the artefact to a private collector in Romania. The helmet, a Thracian ceremonial piece, will be returned to the museum after conservation work. The case has highlighted the vulnerability of regional museums to organised crime.
