My stolen laptop sold on ebay now possible civil dispute? Please help!

SuperHan

Haven't read the full post, but the relevant case law:

Phillips v. Brooks, [1919] 2 K.B. 243. In the United Kingdom the Sale of Goods Act (s. 24) provides:

24. - (1) Where goods have been stolen and the offender is prosecuted to conviction, the property in the goods so stolen revests in the person who was the owner of the goods, or his personal representative, notwithstanding any intermediate dealing with them, whether by sale in market overt, or otherwise.

Read more: http://chestofbooks.com/business/law/Handbook-Of-The-Law-Of-Sale-Of-Goods/42-Sale-By-Person-With-A-Voidable-Title.html#.UUiLTqX7V1M#ixzz2O0BX53HX

wealdroam

SuperHan wrote: »

Haven't read the full post, but the relevant case law:

Phillips v. Brooks, [1919] 2 K.B. 243. In the United Kingdom the Sale of Goods Act (s. 24) provides:

24. - (1) Where goods have been stolen and the offender is prosecuted to conviction, the property in the goods so stolen revests in the person who was the owner of the goods, or his personal representative, notwithstanding any intermediate dealing with them, whether by sale in market overt, or otherwise.

Read more: http://chestofbooks.com/business/law/Handbook-Of-The-Law-Of-Sale-Of-Goods/42-Sale-By-Person-With-A-Voidable-Title.html#.UUiLTqX7V1M#ixzz2O0BX53HX

Isn't the important bit in that quote...

and the offender is prosecuted to conviction

In other words, perhaps the police are right to hold onto the goods until someone is successfully convicted of theft, or a civil court decides the outcome.

I am not a lawyer, but just saying that the quote you have provided doesn't appear conclusive to me.

TonyMMM

Your complaint will go nowhere at all - the proper process where stolen property has been bought in good faith by an innocent purchaser and comes into police possession is for the police to make an application under the Police Property Act 1897 for a court to rule on the proper ownership. This is to protect them/and you from any subsequent claim by the purchaser.

You will almost certainly get your property back, but it depends how quickly the application can be heard by the court ..... you can in fact make the application yourself if you want to speed things up.

Note that the purchaser may also have a right to make representation to the court during the hearing if they wish.

missile

TonyMMM wrote: »

Your complaint will go nowhere at all - the proper process ....... QUOTE] It seems the police did not tell him/her this .................. and that would become apparent when his complaint is investigated.

adz2010

Right thanks for the amazing posts by everyone. They really have been eye opening. Thankfully just as I was about to tweet the police force and lodge a complaint with the IPCC. The police finally called me this afternoon. We should have a conclusion tomorrow as the other party does not want to pursue the claim (she does not want to own goods knowing they have been stolen) and has given the police the information of the ebay seller. Her only request is that I delete the information I have of her which I will obviously do. I should hopefully be picking up my macbook tomorrow afternoon during my lunch break God willing! However I wont believe it until I have it in my hand as I have been let down before.

wallbash

As I have posted before , daughter using the wonderful preyproject software , after giving the police , location /IP address / email name and webcam photo of her stolen laptop. Police were at the location within 2 hours.

But the wheels of justice grind slowly , and it was a number of weeks before the lap top was returned. Laptop as evidence has to be retained until the sentence, even if the thief pleads guilty ( he could change his mind at the last moment).

But its another success for http://preyproject.com/ its free and it works.
Use it and tell others.

adz2010

wallbash wrote: »

As I have posted before , daughter using the wonderful preyproject software , after giving the police , location /IP address / email name and webcam photo of her stolen laptop. Police were at the location within 2 hours.

But the wheels of justice grind slowly , and it was a number of weeks before the lap top was returned. Laptop as evidence has to be retained until the sentence, even if the thief pleads guilty ( he could change his mind at the last moment).

But its another success for http://preyproject.com/ its free and it works.
Use it and tell others.

It is a fantastic bit of software I have told all of my family and friends to download it.

missile

Thanks for sharing the good news.

Hintza

I suppose the police are worried that in some cases people sell items and the later claim they were stolen. But again they should explain why an item can not be returned immediately.

adz2010

The macbook is back in my hands! Picked it up this lunchtime there is only one slight issue left to deal with, I cannot get into the macbook as the person has put a password on it.

The police did ask if it would be okay if I keep a copy of the ladys files if she needed them. I am happy to do that but will need the password if she wants her files back.

My files are most likely gone but I am over the moon just to get the machine back!