WA Civil Damages for Stolen Property?

[Thinkaboutit]

I recently had a bike stolen and noticed it was advertised and sole on Gumtree the next day. Immediately after the theft I reported it to the police and also put them in contact with Gumtree community support so they could work out who the bike was sold too (as buyer would need the sellers address the message threads should reveal who purchased it pretty quickly).

Unfortunately I don't think the police have the resources or the will to follow this up which is understandable, it's just a bike. I'm however reluctant to let it go as there seems to be a very clear and easy path to recover the bike with some help from Gumtree.

The reasons I don't want to let it go are:
- Bike was a good one and had some sentimental value as it was gifted to me.
- The seller has sold over 50 similar bikes this year which puts his income at the equivalent of over $300,000 pre-tax which stinks
- Recovering the bike appears to be a very easy exercise if Gumtree would share the message threads

So my questions are:
- Can I begin a civil damages case against either the seller or gumtree that would legally require gumtree to reveal the message threads?
- If so should I lodge that claim against gumtree or the seller?
- Is there another way I can obtain that data legally from gumtree with the intent of lodging a claim via civil courts?

Thanks in advance!

 

[Jaywoo220]

Subpoena gumtree for their details.

How do you know it is your bike?

 

[Thinkaboutit]

Hi Jaywoo, thanks for your reply.

Can I subpoena prior to actually lodging a civil claim? I checked out the "WITNESS SUMMONS TO PRODUCE A RECORD OR THING" form for the magistrates court where this would presumably be heard due to the small amount involved and it requires a "Defendant". Without the documents I can't say for sure who I'm suing. I have a name related to social media accounts but can't be sure these are legal names. I am confident I can serve the thief, I know where they live and where they work. Now I should say, I'm not sure he was the actual thief. It's just as likely he accepted the bike in payment for something else (eg drugs) or some how otherwise miraculously comes into possession of about 3-5 bikes a week that he sells well below market price. But certainly he's the beneficiary of stolen goods.

How do I know it's my bike? I don't, but it would be incredibly unlikely it wasn't:
- It's a pretty unique bike. I checked with the distributor, they have only sold three of these bikes into WA. It's a new model to so fairly low chance the other two bike owners would be selling so quickly after buying.
- The seller posted it the day after it was stolen. What are the chances?
- The seller sold it for a massive discount at a time when there is a supply shortage of bikes and it's really hard to find lower cost second hand bikes
- The seller misnamed the model (fail) which I think would be hard to do if you were vaguely familiar with the bike, or at least familiar enough to stump up nearly $3k to buy it new a very short time ago
- The seller has sold 50 bikes this year and in each add he claims he's "Selling my bike... " as if each one was his personal bike he was parting ways with. Also using a fake name on his Gumtree account. The likelihood this guys isn't a crook is so incredibly slim.

Thanks again,

Rich