Turks arrest British diver who found coins off coast

Tourist stopped at airport by police ‘for trying to take historic artefacts out of country’ faces years in jail

A BRITISH father faces up to five years in prison after he was arrested in front of his family at a Turkish airport for trying to bring home 13 historic bronze coins he found while snorkelling on holiday. Toby Robyns, 52, was arrested at Bodrum airport on the Aegean coast on suspicion of trying to take artefacts out of the country.

Mr Robyns, an ambulance driver from Southwick, West Sussex, told police he had no idea it was against the law to take the coins.

“We were on a daily tour. When our boat stopped I took my goggles and dived into the water. There were broken ceramics in the sea. When I cleaned the sand off with my hand I saw the coins. I never thought that carrying them would be a crime,” he said, according to a Turkish police statement.

Police said the coins were 800 years old and were found when Mr Robyns put his luggage through an X-ray machine at the airport. Mr Robyns’ wife, Heidi, and two young sons returned to the UK while he was reportedly taken to a prison in Milas, around 30 miles away.

Mrs Robyns declined to comment when contacted at the family home near Brighton. The family had been on a two-week summer holiday in Bodrum. Mr Robyns has not yet been charged but is likely to be held in prison until prosecutors make a decision.

Turkey’s judicial system is on an August break, meaning that Mr Robyns could face several weeks in jail before any decision is made.

He appeared before a magistrates’ court the day after his arrest but will need to appear before a higher court if he is charged.

He faces between three and five years in prison if convicted of smuggling historical artefacts, according to the Birgün newspaper. Mr Robyns was snorkelling near the island of Yassi Ada off Bodrun. The island is often called “a ship’s graveyard” because of the number of wrecks that litter the waters around it.

Of the dozens of sunken ships the most famous is a 4th century Roman wreck that ran into a reef. Jugs, dishes and lamps were all found on board.

The area was rocked by a 5.3 magnitude earthquake on Aug 8 and it is possible that the coins found in shallow waters by Mr Robyns had been dislodged by the tremors. The Foreign Office said: “We are assisting a British man following his arrest in Bodrum, and remain in contact with his family and the Turkish authorities.”

Tim Loughton, the MP for East Worthing and Shoreham, said he was “helping with the case and liaising with the Foreign and Commonwealth Office”.

James Stoneham, a family friend, told The Sun: “They are accusing him of taking Turkish artefacts which he was obviously unaware of.”