Turbot Man's propellor reunited with family after thief's scrap metal sale bid

Thursday 14 September 2023

A stolen propellor with "huge sentimental value" is set to be reunited with its "grateful" owners after the thief sold it to an unknowing scrap metal company for over £500 – and police officers are now investigating.

The "extremely heavy" propellor was taken from the entrance to the Jersey Turbot Farm bunker in St. Catherine's Bay where it had been located for the last two decades.

The propellor had "huge sentimental value" as it was owned by Dave Cowburn – or ‘Dave the Turbot Man’ – for over 25 years before he passed away four years ago, and was due to be moved to Dave's family home before the end of the year.

However, it went missing at some point between Thursday 7 September and Tuesday 12 September. 

After noticing the loss, Dave's daughter, Samantha Jones, shared photographs of the propellor on Facebook and asked islanders to "keep a look out" for it.

Pictured: Dave's daughter asked islanders to "keep a look out" for the propellor in a post on the 'Jersey Lost and Found' Facebook group.

In the post, she explained that the propellor is "extremely heavy" and would have taken two or three men to move.

Samantha added that "other items, including a large solid wood round picnic table with attached seats, were moved out of the way so a vehicle could be reversed right up" to where the propellor was located.

The Facebook plea prompted James Hunt from local scrap metal recycling company Hunt Bros to get in touch with Samantha.

He informed her that his company had unknowingly paid the thief over £500 for the scrap metal value of the propellor.

Samantha said that she was "very grateful" to James for reuniting her family with the sentimental item.

Pictured: Samantha publicly thanked Hunt Bros in a Facebook post.

In a post on Facebook, she said: "I cannot thank James enough for all his help today.

"Hunt Bros have taken this very seriously and have been so helpful throughout."

The States of Jersey Police initially confirmed to Express that they were investigating the suspected theft.

However, it was later confirmed that the incident had been a "misunderstanding" with "no further action" required.