Face-book em! Thief caught by web gaffe

A man who tried to sell two stolen bikes was caught out after putting them up for sale on his Facebook page.

Brendan Teal e, 27, t hought he was being clever when he placed an advert on the socialnetworking site for the sale of the stolen Apollo bicycles.

But the eagle- eyed owner spotted the ad after scouring the i nternet for his missing property. Teale was promptly a r re st e d a nd c harge d wi t h handling stolen goods.

York Crown Court heard that the two bicycles had been stolen from an outbuilding at a property in Main Street, Filey.

Although Teale was never charged with the actual burglary, he came into possession of the bikes and tried to find a buyer through Facebook.

“The owner searched the i nternet for the sale of similar items and found, on Teale’s Facebook account, the sale of an Apollo bike,” said prosecutor Stephen Thornton.

“He made a r ra ngements to view the bike and was given Teale’s phone numbers.”

Teale, of Malton, was arrested in September but made no comment when quizzed.

But it transpired that he had burgled another property in Filey on April 4 last year while on bail for an assault charge in which a man was tied up and tortured by Teale and three others in Scarborough.

Tea l e had b ro ke n i nto a garage in Dovecote Close, Filey, and stole numerous bottles of alcohol. Empty bottles were l at er fo u n d i n a he d ge ro w nearby.

Teale was charged with burglary in connection with that incident and eventually admitted his guilt. He appeared for sentence at York Crown Court on Friday, when he was sentenced for the burglary and handling stolen goods.

Those charges were t i ed in with the assault charge, in which Teale and his three Scarborough cohorts battered the victim after tying him to a chair during a sickening revenge attack (see page 3).

Te al e wa s jailed for 12 months for ABH, burglary and the handling offence.