Stolen bikes

Thanks for posting on here and providing context.

@hippy, @velocio, maybe make the below part of the first post on this thread?

Did you report the burglary?

Have you passed all the information mentioned above to the officer who is investigating your theft?
How long has it been since the bike was stolen and since this person contacted you?

(feel free to PM me rather than start a long conversation here but for the benefit of other forum users:)

Take screen shots of every interaction with the person who called (you will need to provide the exact time you were called as well as your telephone number and mobile phone provider) this will enable a request to be sent to the phone company to release details of the telephone number/subscriber who called you, however, as with many things, it's never as simple as it sounds.

I can't go into too much detail as to what can or cannot be requested but it's the first thing I would do if I were to be assigned this crime.

It is (in my opinion) likely that the person who called you bought the bike in good faith (or why would he call at all) but now has gotten cold feet as to contacting you again. The legislation around property (TORT) law is complex, but it does provide a defense of acting in good faith and this would result in the requirement for you to take the person to civil court. Sadly, it's another area in which the victims of crime are let down. It's a fine line to walk to protect people from malicious claims and to support real victims. After all, the person who paid cash for your bike is likely to be a victim of the person from whom he bought the bike.
I have persuaded people to return bikes, though this really oversteps my role and the official line is to advise them to take out a civil action if there is insufficient evidence to bring charges and we will provide details of the other party once requested through the proper channels.

Just in case I haven't mentioned it before (and unrelated to your case)

Please make a note of your frame number, register it with as many property marking sites as possible. Take photographs of your bike after any significant modifications (perhaps not if you change a bottom bracket) and don't skimp on locks. With regard the frame number, I compare it in part to reporting your car stolen. If I were working in the front office of my local police station (Stoke Newington when I joined) and someone came in to report their car stolen and described it as, "a blue one, with gears" I'm not sure I'd be confident we would ever identify it in a month of Sundays and I'd ask them to return with some more details. Bikes are no different. With no frame number, it would take an officer with a knowledge of component parts to identify a bike (RIP the cycle task force) which cannot be expected of a non cyclist beyond the make and model.