British Man Finds Burglar (and his stolen stuff) on Ebay

A British man successfully recovered his stolen kitchen appliances after he discovered that the burglar had put his goods up for sale on eBay.

Tristan Brooks told the Daily Mail that a week before moving into his new home, his builder had called him to say that he’d been robbed. Brooks returned to find his kitchen stripped and every major appliance gone.

The thief had taken a £700 fridge freezer, a Hotpoint electric oven and a series of BT cordless phones, the culprit took the curtains and hooks, a tool case, toaster, Brabantia bin and a shower head. The total value of the property was estimated to be around £8,000.

Police had told Brooks they had no leads, but his girlfriend suggested looking on eBay. Minutes after logging on Brooks was there, staring at virtually every valuable item that had been stolen.

Brooks said, “I logged on and all of a sudden I was staring at the screen and looking at my fridge freezer. It was being sold by somebody in Bridgend,” which is only 30 miles from where he lives in Pontcanna, Cardiff in the UK.

He arranged a time to meet the seller at his home, saying he needed to check the measurements against his kitchen and went outside to call the police who promptly arrived to arrest the suspect. Brooks was able to recover all of his belongings because he had the serial numbers for the items.

The man was arrested and released on bail but failed to appear before magistrates. There is now a warrant out for his rearrest.

Makes you wonder, if you’re an eBay frequenter that is, how much stolen stuff you’ve actually bought from the site.