So November last year my trek remedy was stolen from my van, I reported it to police same day, less than two weeks later I spotted it in cash converters, now I was shopping with my two children so I did not kick off I walked around town and found a Police officer and explained to him my bike had been stolen and I had just seen it in cash converters, 1 week later I gave a statement at the police station and took some proof it was my bike as I have had the bike 4 years the bike is bespoke with 95% of the parts on it not standard, I have lots of receipts photos etc. the police are happy I’m the owner and have tried to arrest the guy who took it in store but he has gone to ground. Now with all this going on cash converters still won’t let me have my bike back the police say they can not seize the bike because cash converters have promised not to sell the bike and put it in storage. I am realy hacked off with this as I have been very reasonable with police and cash converters. If any one has any ideas or advice I would realy appreciate it . My next step is to see a legal rep but this could be costly and all said the bike is a 2010 trek remedy 8 so it is getting on but you can not put a value on sentiment. Had some great times on this bike

Try emailing or speaking to cash convertors head office ,and explain the situation then the local paper 🙂

Try to remain patient and yes speak to Cashconvertors head office although they may have been served with police paperwork saying that they are not allowed to sell, swap or otherwise dispose of the bike without proper authority and if they were to do so may leave them libel to criminal charges of handling stolen goods, so as I say be patient you have to understand their hands may be tied.

Problem is that the bike is an exhibit in the prospective case against the thief, so may need to be presented in court at a trial.

In Scotland we can photograph inconveniently sized (eg. vehicles) or perishable (eg. deer) productions (exhibits) and then return or dispose of them, presenting instead the photographs and a ‘label in lieu’ to the court, but I don’t know if this is possible in England?

I had a similar situation a few years ago. I spotted someone riding past on the gf’s bike that had been stolen the year before. Followed the chap,got die Polizei involved and because I didn’t have the serial number it was taken until a court case where a judge could look at pictures I had made of the bike with bespoke parts and confirm it was our bike. In all it took nearly a year and a half! 🙁 Good luck!

Letter before action to cash converters demanding the return of your property or damages in sum of a brand new one plus compensation for loss of use within 14 days or you will sue in small claims court for conversion ( look it up make sure that is the right word) . the legal rule is nemo dat quad non habet you cannot give what you have not got , ie the thief did not have legal ownership of the bike so he can’t give legal ownership to cashconverers . it was, is and still is your bike. If cashconverers don’t like it they can take it up with their customer the thief that is why they are obliged to take his details and proof of Id .
Cash converters are a set of fagins and the police in my experience are very poorly trained on this area of law and tend to misadvise the victim and enable the professional handler of stolen goods.

Ask the police officer in charge to speak to the CPS. It should be possible to photograph your bike and return it to you

However, you will be responsible for keeping it in the same condition should the defence want to examine it/use it in Court as evidence

Upsetting the Courts is not something you want to do if, for example, you go for a ride and damage it by coming off

Cash converters have promised to put it in storage pending resolution of the civil dispute between you and them . Not as an exhibit the police could easily photo it or agree to you having it back . The police are an irrelevance in this start acting directly against cash converters. They don’t want to give you your bike back as they have lost money but that is their problem not yours . Letter before action including claim for loss of use based on daily hire rate of equivalent bike small claims 14 days thereafter warn of this in letter.

Letter before action including claim for loss of use based on daily hire rate of equivalent bike small claims 14 days thereafter warn of this in letter.

Yup. Cash Converters are fortunate not to be done for handling, yet there have been more than a few cases where they seem to think that the victim should pay for their lack of due diligence in buying expensive goods without proof of ownership.

Their business model seems to be partly based on turning a blind eye to theft.

OP – suggsey and crankboy are pretty much spot on.
what you now need to do is put more pressure on the police to recover the stolen goods from the store. they have identified it as being your property so have a duty to return it to you.
you may need to threaten to report the matter to the IPCC to get them moving.
the things you need to ask is did the cash converter store follow their purchasing protocol? i.e. did they ask for proof of ownership? was this presented to them? did they ask for valid proof of ID? and did they take a picture of the seller? they are required to do this. failure to do any of that would strengthen your case that they could not have purchased the bike in good faith as they did not do enough to guarantee that they were buying the bike from the legal owner.
therefore the individual who sold the bike to them did not have good title and should not have sold the bike to the store.
in most cases as already pointed out most of the time the shop staff know when stolen goods get sold onto them and in order to make a quick sale they are quite happy to not ask for proof of ownership/ID or take a photo of the seller….that way there is less to come back to them.

from personal experience be wary of the police trying to take this to an interpleader, because then it becomes a civil case between all interested parties over who is the rightful owner of the property and that can end up being costly and very time consuming.
whatever happens do not let them do this as its their way of washing their hands off the situation.

It is an exhibit, but getting it back may not help you initially because the prosecution (in practice) have a duty to preserve and produce the exhibit, hence my earlier comment about coming off

After the court case, however, argument over ownership will have a different dynamic…you will have possession of your property

Its status or not as an exhibit is irrelevant to who gets to hold it at the moment . particually as there is no case just an open ended investigation. Do you believe the police take your car away from you if someone steals your stereo or lock you out of your house for 6 months while a burglary case runs to conviction?
So chase cash converters now .

A big thanks to all you guys for the advice I have had a letter draw up by a lawyer. We will see what happens.
The police don’t want to get involved they are saying its a civil matter now.

jay62976 – Member

A big thanks to all you guys for the advice I have had a letter draw up by a lawyer. We will see what happens.
The police don’t want to get involved they are saying its a civil matter now.

Surely it’s a police matter now cash converters have stolen your bike & refuse to hand it back to its rightful owner, they don’t legally own the bike you do, so how can they refuse to return?

The police are “right” in that a dispute between an “owner/loser” and an innocent purchaser in good faith is a civil matter. I am personally not convinced that cash converters are all that innocent having dealt with the people who have accounts there and basically get taxis/busses from burglary straight to cash converters.

To be guilty of a crime one would to have to prove so that one could be sure that cashconverters knew or believed the bike was stolen and that they were acting dishonestly.

you win on the civil action nemo dat and all that cashconverters “innocence” and “good faith” is irrelevant .

If the OP had walked straight in and taken his bike what would the story have been then?

The police don’t want to get involved they are saying its a civil matter now.

looks like its going to an interpleader then… 🙁

“looks like its going to an interpleader then… “

no just small claims for conversion.

cashconverters will probably cave and give the bike to its true owner.

Are cash converters not obliged to keep details of people that bring stuff in for this reason?
And as such the old bill should be following this line of enquiry?
Sorry if I am being totally naive.

Are cash converters not obliged to keep details of people that bring stuff in for this reason?

they’re supposed to ask for proof of ownership such as the original sales receipt, a valid form of ID such as a bank statement or utility bill…drivers licence or passport is better, and theyre supposed to take a photo of the seller
but when they know its dodgy gear they’re buying they tend to turn a blind eye to their buying protocol
if they did get all this info then it would give the police something to chase up…unless the police are incompetent…which wouldn’t surprise me

So if cash Converters aren’t following their own procedures, they should be liable?
As I understand it (and have been told on more than one occasion) ignorance is no defence in the eyes of the law.

They received stolen goods. Didn’t take the sellers details according to their own procedure which is in place to protect themselves which implies they knowingly accepted stolen goods.

Criminal case then?

should be but this demonstrates the police’s inability to interpret the law correctly and rather than still treat it as a crime they’d rather push it down the civil case route
after all this is just a push bike we are talking about(!) 😯

Do you believe the police take your car away from you if someone steals your stereo

Why would they? The stereo went, not the car. Fingerprints and DNA are lifted for analysis, not left in situ where they’ll degrade

or lock you out of your house for 6 months while a burglary case runs to conviction?

See above

So why keep the bike then?

Please, read this principle (Principle link)

…”referred to by the witness in evidence”…and my MTB was missing…

…”other thing shown to a witness”…I later identified that MTB as mine…

…and it’s “relevant to the investigation”

Police have a power to seize the bike end of story. I Agree with previous comments cash converter should have seen proof of ownership but I know that often does not happen. Laziness on officers part me thinks…. no paperwork just leaving it there…. As I’m typing this I still can’t believe they left it with the shop! I would suggest speaking to officers supervisor first.

Timba mate read it loads over 20 years experience tells me a that is Cps guidance not law b) so if the witness says the sun was bright the police are obliged to seize the sun? You still have not explained why one gets ones car or house back . ” the car window was smashed my stereo had gone” ..” My door had been forced their were muddy prints all over my carpet the TV had been taken.”

Ops bike op entitled to immediate return . police indeed have a power not obligation to seize evidence not the item stolen the evidence is things that prove a crime has happened not the subject of the crime. So they can take photos of your injured hand . the DNA from under your finger nails where you scratched your attacker but they can’t lock you in the evidence room cos you were the victim .
The evidence the bike was stolen is not the bike but the complainant statement if the condition of the bike is relevant a description or a photo will do .
Edit to avoid further interaction you may wish to read your own link and follow up the references in it.

You’re right, this is going around in circles
The OP was about a stolen bike, not a burglary, nor an assault and I made the photo suggestion in my first post
I’m bowing out

any news on this Jay?

any news?

Perhaps the Op went into Cash Converters & they are refusing to hand him back…

FFS if it’s your property and you have proof of ownership just go and pick it up and take it home.