EQUIPMENT stolen from a van parked at a Travelodge was being advertised for sale on the internet within hours.

Mold Crown Court heard the account with online auction house eBay was that of ‘Big Col’, which led police to Colin Dixon’s home.

Officers checked cameras on the roads into North Wales and saw his vehicle leaving Wales in the early hours of the morning.

Dixon, 39, denied stealing two power carpet stretchers valued at £1,300, from a vehicle owned by Dale Sports Surfaces Ltd but admitted handling stolen goods.

He said he received a call to go to help a friend and did not initially realise the items he had were stolen.

But he had realised they were stolen by the time he was asked to get rid of them on eBay.

Prosecutor Jonathan Austin told Mold Crown Court the equipment was used in a specialised carpet laying system.

Two company employees were staying at the Travelodge at Halkyn on October 29 and the following morning it was found the carpet stretchers had been taken.

Later that same day they were advertised for sale by Dixon on his eBay account.
The background to the photograph of the items on the internet was the flooring in the Dixon’s home in Beechwood, Prenton, Birkenhead.

Dixon, who had previous convictions for 114 offences, received a 36-week prison sentence, suspended for two years.

He was placed on supervision, told to do 100 hours unpaid work and sent on a Thinking Skills course.