THE picture is like a scene from Jaws – only the two Bournemouth men who took it pulled it off before Steven Spielberg’s blockbuster was released.
It shows Kim Leachman being ‘attacked’ in the sea off Boscombe in the early 1970s – only the shark fin was fake and it landed him and cousin Mark Littlefield in water that was somewhat hotter than the sea.
Kim, 58, said they “frightened the living daylights out of the Boscombe and Bournemouth holidaymakers” when they towed the rubber shark fin behind their dinghy.
“We cleared the packed July beaches,” added Kim, of Holdenhurst Village.
He continued: “Screaming, frightened adults and children sped in panic out of the water and spilled onto the beaches between both piers, as the dorsal, based on that of a Great White, sliced through the water, 50 metres behind our boat!”
It was attached by a fishing line and rod held by Mark, 56.
The pair recalled their prank this week as Mark returned from his Florida home for a holiday.
“Because of the wedge-shaped polystyrene mount for the fin and a long weighted keel for stability, it would dive below the surface and then slowly and realistically rise up again when Kim stopped rowing,” Mark added.
He said it was ironic that he now lived in the “shark capital of the world” and he recalled seeing a picture of a real-life attack in a newspaper a few years ago that stirred memories of his escapades.
But the authorities didn’t see the funny side of the stunt, as police arrived in Panda cars with blue lights flashing.
There was however one quirk to their telling-off, Kim, a former Daily Echo cartoonist and illustrator who is now a sculptor and artist, said.
“It was great fun at the time, but in hindsight not the most clever thing to have done, with us both receiving a severe reprimand from both the-then Hampshire Police and Bournemouth council’s head of leisure at the time – Joseph Finn!” he added.
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