Stolen bike recovered & subsequently sold by police...

[David Fleming]

Morning All,

A friend of mine had his bike stolen earlier this year & it recently showed up on eBay. The guys selling it bought it legally from a Police stolen/recovered lot at a legal auction & apparently hold valid legal title to the bike now as the Police have the power to claim ownership under the 'Police Property Act'.

The frame was registered on the bikeregister site & a 30 second Google of the frame number returns a number of results clearly showing it was stolen & who the owner is. The police clearly didn't try very hard to identify the owner!

There isn't much information online as to what recourse people in his position have to reclaim his bike or gain compensation from the Police. Has anybody been in this situation before?

Many thanks,
Dave

 

[Kbrook]

Unquestionably the bike belongs to the new owner, however the police should make all reasonable efforts to trace the owner before they dispose of it. It would appear that they have not, lost/stolen property is now managed by a specific person whose job it is to do this and if not succesful the item gets disposed off, this person is usually a civilian who has no other role than to do this. It's not like they have a million other things to do, reporting crime etc.

I would suggest that the first course of action is to write a letter to the police station asking for an explanation and seeking redress. See what the reply is, I would suggest that if the facts are as you say they are, they may well offer some recompense. Then think about the solicitor route. I am guessing that the bike wasn't insured, if it was it really is a matter for the insurance company.

 

[Tyke]

If it was a car the original owner would get it back and the new owner would lose out no matter who it was bought from but as its a bike with no records stored as the DVLA do then this will probably be different.

I would look at going down the solicitor path as well.