Violin for sale - no strings attached

An Irish man who stole a rare Stradivarius violin worth £1.2 million from internationally acclaimed musician Min-Jin Kym is facing jail time after trying to sell it for just £100. John Maughan,40, swiped the 300-year-old violin from Kym in a London café with the help of two teenage accomplices. Following the robbery the trio offered the violin to a random man in an internet café for £100. Maughan is currently awaiting his sentence while the two teenagers are on bail.

The Stradivarius also came in a black case with a Peccatte bow, valued at £62,000, and another bow made by the School of Bazin, valued at more than £5,000. It is still missing and insurers have offered a £15,000 reward for information on the violin.