Thief Caught Trying To Sell Victim's Own Watch To Him On eBay

A thief who robbed his neighbor was caught and jailed after he tried to sell the stolen goods on eBay back to the victim. The incident took place in December of 2018. The accused was given his sentence Thursday.

James Longden, a 30-year-old, broke into his neighbor’s house in Chester, Cheshire in England while he was at work and stole a watch, laptop, some jewelry and clothes. After he stole these things, he put the stuff on eBay for sale.

Meanwhile, his victim was also looking for his things to check if they would turn up for sale anywhere, including the internet. The victim reported the crime to the police after he discovered a leather jacket and watch similar to his own, up for sale on eBay.

He made the winning bid for his watch and agreed to meet the seller at Chester Railway Station. The police were also able to link the eBay account to Longden before the meeting at the railway station.

The victim had by then discovered that the seller was none other than his neighbor, whom he arranged to meet Dec. 4 2018. Meanwhile, Longden was unaware of the buyer’s identity. When he went to meet the buyer, he was instead greeted by police who arrested him.

After being caught, Longden admitted to the robbery and has been jailed for two years and four months.

After he was caught, a search warrant was issued for Longden’s place and the police found most of the items that he had stolen from his neighbor’s place.

“Victims are targeted in their own home, the place they should be able to feel most safe. It’s always a traumatic experience. In this case it turned out that the victim had been burgled by his next door neighbor, making the incident even more upsetting,” said detective constable Nicky Edgell, of the Cheshire police.

“Burgling your next door neighbor’s house and agreeing via eBay to sell one of the items stolen, back to him is despicable behavior even if Longden was unaware of the identity of the buyer,” Edgell said. Calling burglary a serious offense, Edgell spoke of how he hopes that the time Longden spends in prison deters him and others from committing similar offenses.