Relief as fiddle is returned by thieves

Thursday 7 April 2011

Relief as fiddle is returned by thieves

A teenager who performed with internationally renowned violinist Nicola Benedetti has been reunited with her fiddle after it was stolen.

Lauren Kelly, 14, was distraught after returning home from a weekend away with her grandfather to find her prized possession was missing after a break-in.

Other items were also taken and belongings damaged during the raid at her home in Dalry, North Ayrshire.

However, just three days later the fiddle turned up on their door. Her grandfather Jim, 57, said: “I can’t believe it. “Lauren is just delighted. I looked out the back door about 9pm and there it was sitting on the bin. I phoned police and they told me not to touch it as it’s to be examined by forensic officers. “Lauren has been desperate to play it but she will have to wait a bit longer.” The break-in happened between Saturday and Sunday while Lauren and Jim were on a break in Pitlochry, Perthshire. Widower Jim said: “We came home to find a window smashed and the place had been ransacked, and we looked around to find Lauren’s fiddle was gone. “She was devastated. She has a real talent and I saved up to buy her the £1700 instrument. It is her pride and joy.” Jim believes whoever took it had a change of heart. He added: “It would not have been easy to get rid of a fiddle and my fear was that it may have been destroyed. “It’s slightly damaged but we are just so relieved to have it back.” Lauren, whose mum Lynn died four years ago, took an interest in music when she was seven and took up the violin aged nine. The teenager, who has now reached grade four violin and attended the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama, was over moon when she met Nicola Benedetti last year and got to perform with her on stage in Largs. A spokeswoman for Strathclyde Police appealed for information.

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