Paul McCartney’s former engineer on stolen iconic guitar

A sound engineer who worked with Sir Paul McCartney after he left The Beatles has recalled the moment they realised one of the musician's most iconic guitars had been stolen. McCartney bought the Hofner violin bass in Hamburg in 1961 and played it on some of the earliest Beatles recordings. The instrument remained in his collection after the band split up. Ian Horne, 79, of Nailsworth, Gloucestershire worked as a sound engineer with McCartney during his time in Wings in 1972 and drove the band on its first UK tour. After a long day in recording studios, Horne and a fellow crew member parked the van near London's Ladbroke Grove, locking two guitars inside, including the Hofner bass. When he returned the next morning, something was wrong. He said: "The first thing I saw was the padlock on the floor. "Shock, horror, horrendous feelings. Yeah, it was traumatic, really. It was that bad it was like someone passing away." Horne went to Paul McCartney's house in St John's Wood, to tell him the bad news. He said: "I must have looked like a beaten man when I knocked on the door, expecting the worst. "But he just very calmly said 'It's okay, Ian, I've got another one', and didn't freak out at