Trail led Police to criminal via Shepherd's Bush shop
A man was sentenced recently to a 12-month community supervision order and ordered to pay £50 costs when he was convicted of handling stolen oboes.
Tim Horncastle from Kent pleaded guilty to having handled the oboes which the Police say were worth around £5,000. Three oboes and a wallet were stolen from Gloucester Road, Acton in October 2004. Although the wallet was found in Rectory Road 5 months later, the oboes weren't seen again until September this year.
A man offered two of them to a specialist music shop, Howarth of London in Chiltern St, W1. Emma Gourlay, who works at the shop, told the man she would value the instruments and contact him with an offer. She checked the serial numbers on the instruments and found that they matched two of those on the register of stolen oboes.
The man had left contact details and these were immediately passed to the Police who made an arrest. The suspect was, however, able to provide proof that he had purchased the oboes from a secondhand shop in Shepherd's Bush. This shop led Ealing Borough Police to Horncastle.
There is still one oboe missing. It is around 20 inches long when assembled, with silver valves and a serial mark of DO237. It pulls apart into three sections. If anyone has information about this oboe they should contact Ealing Borough Police on 020 8810 1212 or Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.
December 7, 2006
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