Tourist jailed in Turkey for trying to take home coins he found while snorkelling
A father-of-five could face three years in jail for trying to take home coins he found on a holiday while snorkelling.
UK man Toby Robyns, 52, was arrested in front of his family as they prepared to fly home from Bodrum Airport in Turkey’s west, according to The Sun.
The ambulance driver, of Southwick, near Brighton, West Sussex, found 13 old coins and decided to take them home as a souvenir of his two-week holiday in Turgutreis.
But airport security found the coins in his hand luggage and deemed them historical treasures.
His alleged offence carries a three-year-jail sentence, which family friend James Stoneham said comes as a “huge shock”.
“They are accusing him of taking Turkish artefacts which he was obviously unaware of,” Mr Stoneham said.
“He found a number of coins among the rocks and sand.
“This was harmless fun on a holiday you’ve enjoyed — and now he has been put in prison.”
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Mr Stoneham said Mr Robyns was “dragged” off the flight in front of his wife Heidi, 43, two sons Baxter, nine, and Brodie, seven.
He said Mr Robyns is going to be held for “possibly” a month on suspicion of finding Turkish artefacts without notifying authorities.
The rest of the family have since flown home while Mr Robyns was remanded in custody over a decision to charge him.
It is understood Mr Robyns is being held at Milas Prison, a small compound, which holds about 70 inmates.
It’s believed Mr Robyns may have found the coins after a 5.3 magnitude earthquake struck Bodrum two weeks ago; the tremor possibly shifting them closer to the shore.
There are said to be up 25 shipwrecks, with many from the fourth to seventh century Byzantine Empire, around Yassi Ada island.
Yassi Ada island is just 6.4km from where Mr Robyns was snorkelling.
A family member, who has not been named, said Mr Robyns was “definitely not a smuggler” and while it was “stupid of him” they thought he would get a “slap on the wrists”.
“They are making a mountain out of a molehill,” the family member said.
A Foreign Office spokesman said it was assisting “a British man following his arrest in Bodrum, and remain in contact with his family and the Turkish authorities”.
