On Thursday evening a 4.5 metre boat and trailer worth $32,500 was stolen from Midwest Marine. The offenders had cut the fence to gain access to the boat yard.

The following day a customer of Midwest Marine came in to pay his bill, and learned of the stolen boat.

Later, that same man was sharing the story of the stolen boat with his brother, a keen fisherman.

The boat was quite unique, and stood out to the brother of the customer. It sounded a lot like a boat he had seen on the side of the road earlier in the day.

Being a keen fisherman he stopped to check out an interesting looking boat on the side of the road, only to learn that the people towing the boat had broken down. Being the kind Mid West local he was, he assisted them in towing the boat to their residence in Northampton.

It was only when he was talking with his brother later that afternoon that he realised he had in fact assisted the thieves.

They got in touch with Midwest Marine, who jumped on Google Earth and located the house, then sent the cops around.

The boat was recovered, though it had been stripped already.

Kit, from Midwest Marine, told us that the boat was definitely targeted, as it was quite unique.