I think my (stolen) bike is on gumtree!

[i-am-iron-man]

iwasgoodonce is correct about the "good faith" thing, if someone has bought it off the theif or the fence and bought it not knowing it was stolen then technically he is the legal owner, that absolutely sucks but how do you really know?

Is that definitely right? - I've seen no end of stuff about people that have bought cars, caravans etc that have turned out to be stolen, and as soon as the rozzers confirm the identity it gets taken away and the owner's money is lost.

The current owner has stolen property. Its more likely they'd need to prove to the cops they didn't know it was stolen - buying "in good faith" is no defence. If you have stolen property, even if you weren't the original stealer, you're defiitely not the legal owner!

 

[Rumble]

My prior impression - and what the police told me this morning - is that if I can show it's mine by comparing to photos I have of my bike, then I get it back. Doesn't matter if/that the current "owner" didn't know it's stolen - as much as it may not be his fault it's certainly not mine!

 

[The Ken]

That is how it works Rumble - stolen items are returned to the original owner - in the case of insurance payouts it actually goes to the insurance company and you have to buy it back from them. Not that this is the case for you.

It might be different in England though as they have a different legal system.

 

[dyna-ti]

That is how it works Rumble - stolen items are returned to the original owner - in the case of insurance payouts it actually goes to the insurance company and you have to buy it back from them. Not that this is the case for you.

It might be different in England though as they have a different legal system.

£1000 Cannondale nicked-insurance pay out £800-Police recover the bike and give it to the insurance company-they offer to sell it back to me

 

[jonnyboy666]

iwasgoodonce is correct about the "good faith" thing, if someone has bought it off the theif or the fence and bought it not knowing it was stolen then technically he is the legal owner, that absolutely sucks but how do you really know?

Is that definitely right? - I've seen no end of stuff about people that have bought cars, caravans etc that have turned out to be stolen, and as soon as the rozzers confirm the identity it gets taken away and the owner's money is lost.

the reason i believe this is because a similar thing happened to a customer while i was in the trade (only 2 years ago) orange 5 stolen from a car in the new forest, bike sold locally via ebay, bought by local who wanted some work doing on it, took it to a shop who then phoned us, we identified the bike as the customers. when we asked the local plod for an opinion what to do they said, has the customer replaced the bike? answer was yes, said if the bike was recovered it goes to the insurance company for the customer to buy back (or not) if you don't involve the police and insurance then the scroat who bought it is the new owner unless he's dumb enough to admit he knew it was stolen which implies no "good faith" and therefore incriminating. but not many people would admit that they knew it was stolen hence the "good faith" problem.

i think it works a bit different with cars etc because they are so much easier to trace with so many numbers etc allover them as well as being on databases everywhere, dvla and insurance etc. bikes are not so it almost comes down to who the coppers believe.

crap really, i think if you can proove it is yours regardless of what someone else has paid for it you should have every right to have it back, even if you have replaced it. my attitude is that it is tough luck if you have bought something that is stolen and it gets taken off you, you should have known better and if you didn't then you are probably a horrible little git anyway!

i hate theives.

 

[Rumble]

Well, I've been to see it and it's definitely, beyond a shadow of a doubt, mine. All the stratches in my photos are in exactly the same places, same bits of stickers missing, and a number of other little things.

Called the police and they turned up (straight away!) looked at my pictures, listened to my story and seemed to be satisfied that was enough to go on. They've taken the details of the seller and seized the bike so it can't be sold in the meantime. Going to take statements from me, quite detailed so I can list all the little things that make it unique, and the seller. If they can prove it's theirs (which they can't) then they get it back, and if I can prove it's mine with the photos I'll get it. Said if they thought the seller had nicked it they'd get charged with that or if they bought it in a pub for £20 they'd get done for reset (scottish version of handling stolen goods?) - otherwise, if they did pay a decent price for it and didn't know it was stolen, the police said they'd try and trace who they bought it from.

Fingers crossed my photos are enough in the eyes of the law...

 

[RobMac]

Nice result

 

[mikee]

top result

beats the old 6 blokes in a van with percussion instruments approach

someone told me about

eh rob ?

 

[Enid_Puceflange]

Fantastic result

Had one of my bikes stolen 3 times , returned each time :roll:

Gc

 

[Agency_Scum]

If you can, find the name of your copshop team who got your bike back ( it'll be something politically correct or neutral-sounding like the South East Edinburgh Community Police Unit or something ), big them up here and then email a link of this thread to their Chief Constable.
I do it whenever we get success ( which is a lot ) with the North Bristol Anti Burglary Team* and they really appreciate it.









* they're like the Sweeney on Red Bull and they farking HATE bike thieves!