Violinist, 79, recovers instrument left on train

A 79-year-old professional violinist with the London Philharmonic Orchestra has been reunited with his missing violin, with help from the BBC, after he suspected it had been stolen from a train.

Joseph Maher believed his 20th Century violin had been taken from overhead storage on a Thameslink route to Cambridge, after he got off the train without it at Blackfriars on Friday.

Maher said inside the violin case were two bows, one of which he had owned since he was 18 and was of great personal value.

Thameslink said Maher had been reunited with his violin on Tuesday morning, after it was located by a member of staff.

Speaking at the time of the loss, he said of his oldest bow: "It's your arm. I had just had it refurbished by the original maker. It was totally personal."

Maher, from Haywards Heath, said he had owned the violin for more than 20 years and a replacement would cost approximately £15,000.

Maher said he realised he had left his violin on the train immediately after departing at Blackfriars.

He said station staff rang through, but he was told the train could not be checked for the violin until it reached Cambridge.

"It was an hour and 20 minutes until Cambridge," he said. "They checked and I was told there was nothing there."

Thameslink confirmed that a passenger assistant saw the violin case in the train's overhead rack while helping a passenger off the train.

On Tuesday morning, after reading the BBC article about the suspected theft, they realised it was Maher's missing violin.

The instrument was returned to Maher later that day, who was happy to be reunited with his beloved possession.

The musician, who has been part of the London Philharmonic Orchestra since 1986, said a colleague had loaned him a violin to use in the interim, which he was able to use in a concert on the day the instrument went missing.

Maher said at the time that he hoped there was a "reasonable chance" of the instrument being recovered and returned to him.

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