Shock as new bike turns out to be stolen

A jobseeker has been left off the road and out of pocket after a motorbike he bought turned out to be stolen.
James CowellJames Cowell
James Cowell

James Cowell, 24, from Warton thought he was bagging a bargain when he picked up the bike from a breaker’s yard.

It was only when he contacted the DVLA to sort out his tax he realised what had happened.

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Police recovered the motorbike, which was reported stolen from an address in Thornton leaving James with no transport and nearly £800 down.

He’s now urging anyone buying on the second hand market to carry out their own checks, having been caught out by a quirk in the system.

James said: “I bought the bike from a breakers, it wasn’t expensive.

“It cost me £500 and I’d probably done about £300 of work on it.

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“When I got it from the yard they told me it had already been vehicle checked.

“Because of that, I didn’t do the check myself – that was the mistake.”

In an unfortunate twist the motorbike hadn’t been reported stolen when the yard made their check.

But by the time James came to tax it, police had been made aware of the theft.

“It’s one of those things,” he said.

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“The guys at the yard have said they are going to try to find me another.

“The thing is the police want £150 from the owner to get the bike back so we’re both out of pocket.

“I’m looking for a job and I need the bike to be able to get about.

“I suppose it’s a lesson learned. I’d urge everyone to do their own checks, just to be sure.”