GUMTREE GUMSHOE
Mum tracks down son’s stolen new bike and video of her giving teen thief a telling off goes viral
A MUM turned detective to catch the teen who stole her son’s bike.
Findlay Sandlan, 16, was left “distraught” when the new bicycle was stolen from outside McDonald’s on Argyle Street in Glasgow – just days after he had bought it.
But the thief didn’t expect to be tracked down by Findlay’s mum Vonnie, who launched a social media campaign to find her son’s prized possession.
On Sunday, the day after the bike was pinched, Vonnie got a tip-off that the bike was up for sale on website Gumtree.
Posing as buyers, Vonnie and her husband Bob met the 15-year-old seller with the bike outside The Forge shopping centre and confronted him.
Now a Facebook video of her giving the thief a “life lecture” has gone viral.
In her Facebook post, Vonnie, the former president of student union NUS Scotland said: “The kid came over and he stopped in front of the bike. I checked the serial number, then I just said, ‘This is my bike.’ And the kid burst into tears.
“Somehow I ended up giving him a life lecture on how this is a turning point.
“I said he needed to be thinking of his future and stop stealing because he’s terrible at it and he’s going to end up in Barlinnie.”
Despite her heroics, police advised the public not to indulge in crime-fighting.
A spokesman said: “Let us deal with the confrontation side of things.”