I found my stolen kitchen... on eBay

Published 29th Dec 2009

When Tristan Brooks arrived home from a weekend away to find his brand new £8,000 kitchen stripped bare he was distraught.

Thieves had made off with everything from the £700 fridge freezer to the curtain hooks and the police said they had no leads.

But with just a few clicks of the mouse, the 30-year-old transport planner was able to discover some of his property being sold on internet auction site eBay by a man living 30 miles away.
ebay

Posing as an interested buyer, Mr Brooks visited the thief at home – and found the rest of the stolen property.

He called the police and has now been able to restore his kitchen with all the original fittings.

Mr Brooks saved up for ten years to buy the £400,000 Edwardian terraced home in the Cardiff suburb of Pontcanna and spent weeks doing it up.

But during a weekend break before moving in, he received a text message from a builder working at his property saying it had been broken into.

He arrived at the property to find gaping holes in his kitchen where the fridge freezer, gas oven and ceramic hob should have been.

The burglars also made off with many other items including some of the builders' tools.

Mr Brooks said: 'They had stolen everything they could get hold of.

'I had saved up for ten years and renovated the house and someone else had come along with no consideration for what has been done and taken everything.'

The builder had already contacted the police who had sent an officer to carry out house-to-house inquiries but neighbours had seen nothing.

But Mr Brooks's girlfriend had the idea of checking eBay to see if any of their stolen goods had appeared on the site.

He 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.'

He emailed the seller and arranged to view the fridge freezer that evening. When he arrived it was sitting in a front room and the oven and gas hob were hidden under some blankets.

He made an excuse that he wanted to go home and check whether the fridge freezer would fit into his kitchen and went outside to call the police.

When they arrived he went into the house with officers and found almost every stolen item.

Because he had their serial numbers he was able to take them straight home.

The suspect was arrested but failed to appear before magistrates on October 12 after being released on bail. A warrant has been issued for his re-arrest.

Source: ' Daily Mail '

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