Police sold me a stolen motorbike .. then they took it back

Kris Lech bought the bike in good faith for 500 and then spent 700 refurbishing it

Kris Lech, 29, bought the Yamaha bike from an official sale of recovered vehicles in Addiewell for nearly 500 and repaired it with 700 worth of new parts.

But a mix-up meant that when he tried to register the vehicle with the DVLA it appeared as stolen. Officers from Tayside Police ordered that the bike be seized and Mr Lech's Muirhouse home was searched for four hours for other "stolen property". Today Mr Lech told how he was still waiting for an apology as well as compensation.

Tayside Police insiders said there had been a "double whammy" of mistakes and that they had never seen such a gaffe. Mr Lech, who moved to Edinburgh from Poland six years ago, said he had been left "highly embarrassed" and "stressed" by the incident, especially as he had spent so much money fixing up the motorcycle. It has now been returned to its original owner.

Mr Lech, a handyman who bought the motorcycle for work, said: "I went to the auction because I have bought things from police auctions before and I have had no problems. I paid for the bike, transported it home, ordered new parts to fix it up, put most of the new parts in the bike, and sent off to the DVLA to register it. Then on July 6, six police officers came to my house and searched the whole place while I was at work. My girlfriend was highly stressed and angry, and I was devastated when I found it was gone after all the work I'd done.

"I felt embarrassed that people in the street had seen what happened when I am decent and hardworking. I was told to contact Drylaw Police Station the next day to find out more about the bike, but even though I have done so three times I have heard nothing about getting any money back. They took all the old parts and the new parts I bought."

He added: "I would like answers. You don't expect to be buying something dodgy at a police auction."

The bike was a Yamaha 125DT

It has emerged that the bike, which was taken from a house in Carnoustie last March and reported as stolen, was spotted a month later being driven without number plates in Dundee and confiscated by police.

But an error on the police national computer system meant it did not come up as stolen property.

Police discovered that the vehicle was registered to a house in Carnoustie, but when an officer visited the property, a man who answered the door said he knew nothing about it.

Three months later, the unclaimed bike was auctioned off, but after the new owner, Mr Lech, fixed it up with new parts and registered it with the DVLA, it was then flagged up as being stolen and officers ordered the raid.

A police source said: "This guy bought the bike at a police auction, completely legit, and it seems there has been a double whammy of errors - a mistake on the computer system and a possible human error. Somewhere in the system there has been a serious breakdown. There are checks in place to stop this sort of thing, but the system isn't perfect.

"I've never heard of anything like it. It's unbelievable that this has happened, but it has. I'm pretty sure this guy would be high on the list for compensation."

A Tayside Police spokesman said: "We can confirm the vehicle had been reported stolen and inquiries are ongoing."

He added that a letter was being sent to Mr Lech with details of a refund for the purchase of the bike.