Brighton musician reunited with £40,000 bassoon

The musician accidentally left his pricey instrument on a service while travelling from Lewes to Brighton on October 19. Once he realised he had left it behind and returned to the platform to retrieve it, the train was gone.

He alerted a member of station staff, who checked the train as soon as possible, but the instrument was nowhere to be seen.

CCTV inquiries later revealed that the instrument had been taken by another passenger, who boarded the service soon after the musician left.

A man from Brighton was arrested in connection with the theft on December 7, and was taken into custody before being released under investigation.

After conducting a thorough investigation of two properties, police found the bassoon still in its case and hidden behind a tree. It was soon returned to its overjoyed owner.

Police sergeant Russ Stobbs said: “This is a fantastic example of BTP going above and beyond to help passengers on the railway and we’ll continue to make enquiries into this incident.”