A STRETFORD man convicted of selling stolen luxury caravans to unsuspecting eBayers has been ordered pay back £10,000.

In 2014, Joseph Cochrane, 47, of Milton Road, was convicted of handling luxury caravans stolen in Holland and Germany worth a total of £34,000 and selling them to eBayers who bought in good faith.

He sold one caravan for £8,400 to a man from Cumbria who lost all his money when the caravan was recovered and sent back to its original owner.

Police managed to seize another caravan before he could sell it to another member of the public, but not before he had taken a £200 deposit from a man in the Manchester area.

When officers from Greater Manchester Police raided his Stretford home and seized £2,680 in cash, Cochrane initially disputed ownership of the money and stated he had no other assets, claiming he had sold the caravans on behalf of another man who had taken all the money.

He himself maintained he had been on benefits as he was not capable of working.

However, at a confiscation hearing at Manchester Crown Court on Thursday 19 March 2015 held under the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002, Cochrane was ordered to pay £10,000 within the next six months or face six months imprisonment, the serving of which will not alter that he still owes the money.

During the hearing, a picture was introduced in evidence taken from Google Street View showing a man matching Cochrane's description stood on top of a large motorhome while jet-washing it outside his Stretford address.

Detective Constable John Townsend, from Greater Manchester Police's Asset Attack Team, said: "Both members of the public who lost out should now get back all the money they lost back.

"While fraud is a growing problem, I would like to reassure both members of the public and criminals engaged in fraud that Greater Manchester Police is determined not only to bring criminals to justice but also to leave no stone unturned in making sure that we strip criminals of their assets and compensate their victims who have lost their hard earned money through fraud.

"It may take a while to complete the process but Greater Manchester Police do not forget, and we are fully aware of the impact fraud can have on members of the public.

"It is one of the best parts of my job to contact victims and tell them the good news when we succeed in retrieving their money."