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Monday 7 Aug 2017

Stolen drum kit returned to owner after railway discovery

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| North West & Central

A rock musician has been reunited with his stolen drum kit after a railway engineer found it dumped on the side of the tracks.

Morgan Pettigrew, drummer for Nottingham band Minatore, had his van, containing his rare drum kit, broken into whilst at a recording studio in Manchester.

A few days later Network Rail engineer Derek Wahid spotted a pile of bags near a bridge near Gorton station, Manchester. 

Inside the bags was Morgan’s drum kit and Minatore posters with a phone number on it, which Derek called.

Overjoyed Morgan said: “I’d pretty much said goodbye to the kit. Then I got the call from Derek. I couldn’t believe it. I never expected to see it again.  

“He very kindly carried the kit all the way up the hill, loaded it into his van and took it home. For a complete stranger to do that is incredible.  

“That drum kit has so much sentimental value. It’s completely irreplaceable. I’m thrilled to bits.” 

Derek said: “Morgan lost something really important to him, so I was really pleased to see how happy he was to get it back.” 

Derek declined the offer of a reward, instead requesting that a donation was made to charity instead. Morgan is planning to donate to the Teenage Cancer Trust. 

The drum kit is only one of 10 in the world created by the manufacturer but Morgan, who has battled cancer twice in his life, says the drums were worth more than money.