A family who used eBay to trace their son’s stolen bike saw the man accused of buying it walk free from court.

Dad Gary Bainbridge Stevens, of Heather Shaw, Trowbridge, reported the bike missing from the family’s garden on June 5.

Three weeks later a friend found the bike listed on auction website eBay. Mr Bainbridge Stevens said: “My son’s friend came to our house and told him the bike was on eBay. I looked it up and saw it matched the description and was located in Trowbridge so I called the police.”

Mr Bainbridge said the bike was worth £300 after his son had spent many hours modifying it.

The police arrested the seller, Lukas Zieba, of Gloucester Road, Trowbridge, and charged him with handling stolen goods after accessing his eBay account.

They discovered the bike was being stored at his brother’s house in Islington, Trowbridge.

Speaking through interpreter Irena Jakuvowski, Mr Zieba told magistrates in Chippenham on Wednesday he had bought the bike from two teenagers in Trowbridge Park for £20 after they approached him.

He said: “They wanted £50. Because I didn’t want to buy it they started to come down in price. When I said I could give them £20 they agreed and sold it to me.”

He said the boys, aged 16 to 17, appeared to be under the influence of drink or drugs and had told him they were getting a new bike and that this one, worth £400, was a gift.

Edward Hetherington, prosecuting, accused Mr Zieba of believing the bike was stolen.

He said: “They offered to sell you a £400 bike for £20. It is perfect common sense that this was stolen property. But you thought ‘this is a bargain and I can sell it on eBay’.”

But Kim Brereton, defending, said her client wouldn’t have put it on eBay if he had known it was stolen. She said: “Why on earth would he do that if it was so easily traceable back to him?”