Student's dismay as family heirloom saxophone stolen

An aspiring musician has told of the "horrible" moment he realised the saxophone his late grandfather gave him had been stolen.

Conor Parker-Delves spent his last night at his university house in Longsight, Manchester, on 29 June, after studying saxophone performance at Royal Northern College of Music for four years.

But when he stepped outside the following morning, the car packed with his possessions had been opened, and two saxophones worth a total of £12,000 had been taken.

Parker-Delves said one of the items stolen was key to his family's memory of his granddad, and that raising the money to replace the instruments was "nearly impossible".

The gold tenor Selma Mark VI first belonged to Parker-Delves' grandfather, Frank Parker, who was "massively obsessed with saxophone and jazz music".

"He passed away when I was very young and so I've been incredibly lucky to play on it," Parker-Delves told BBC Radio Manchester.

Parker-Delves said: "It's one of the last things that my mum's side of the family has of granddad and so it's more than just an instrument, it's a legacy."

He said the only reason he left the car packed with his stuff overnight was because "he had to leave so early in the morning", and that he "never would normally leave these kinds of things" in his car.

"I've never felt anything like it it was just absolutely horrible and still feels still feels horrible," he said.

"Luckily I had two of my closest friends there to kind of help me through it, and we called the police."

"I'm working extensively over the summer, and so I am having to borrow saxophones, but there's only so long I can do that," Parker-Delves added.

"If I want to continue my career I need to have my own instruments and my own equipment.

"If these aren't found I don't really have an alternative," he said.

Parker-Delves said he "can't really put into words" what it would mean to be able to get the saxophones back, and that doing so would be "a huge weight" off his shoulders.

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